INTRODUCTION  TO 


WOOD  BURN  5/-  MO  RAN 


INTRODUCTION  TO 
AMERICAN  HISTORY 


BY 
JAMES  ALBERT  WOODBURN 

Professor  of  American  History  and  Politics  in  Indiana  University 
AND 

THOMAS  FRANCIS  MORAN 

Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Purdue  University 


LONGMANS,     GREEN,    AND    CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  SOra  STREET,  NEW  YORK 
PRAIRIE  AVENUE   &  25-rn  STREET,   CHICAGO 


007 


COPYRIGHT,    1916 
BY  LONGMANS,   GREEN   AND  CO. 


First  Edition,  June,  1916 
Reprinted,  August,  1916.    November,  1916 
April,  1917.    January,  1919 
September,  1919.    December,  1919 


PREFACE 

IT  is  not  possible  for  a  pupil  to  take  up  the  study  of 
American  history  intelligently  without  knowing  something 
of  the  European  background.  Events  and  conditions  in 
Europe  throw  light  upon  the  early  history  of  the  United 
States.  This  little  book  is  intended  to  furnish  that  Euro- 
pean background.  By  making  use  of  it  the  pupil  will  be 
able  to  take  up,  in  a  more  satisfactory  way  than  would 
otherwise  be  possible,  the  formal  study  of  American  history 
in  the  seventh  grade.  It  may  seem  somewhat  strange  at 
first  thought  that  an  introduction  to  American  history 
should  extend  so  far  back  into  the  history  of  Europe,  but 
the  fact  is  that  the  roots  of  our  history  strike  far  back  into 
European  soil. 

The  book  fulfills  the  requirements  of  the  Committee  of 
Eight  of  the  American  Historical  Association  and,  in  ad- 
dition, presents  an  introductory  chapter  on  "  The  Dawn  of 
History."  If  it  is  desired  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Committee  the  first  chapter  of  the  book 
should  be  omitted.  We  believe,  however,  that  a  study  of 
this  chapter  will  add  very  greatly  to  the  effectiveness  of  the 
course. 

The  authors  have  been  aided  in  the  preparation  of  the 
"  Questions  and  Suggestions  to  the  Pupil "  by  Miss  Mary 
Kerr  of  Bloomington,  Indiana,  an  experienced  director  of 
history  teaching  in  the  lower  grades.  Miss  Kerr  read  the 
entire  text  and  made  helpful  suggestions  to  promote  the 
practical  use  of  the  book  in  teaching.  She  supplied  a  large 

442776 


iv  PREFACE 

part  of  the  "Questions  and  Suggestions "  at  the  chapter 
endings  from  her  practical  experiences. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  for  the  following  pictures  in 
the  book:  to  The  Commercial  Museum,  Philadelphia,  for 
"  Model  of  a  Phoenician  Vessel " ;  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica  Corporation,  New  York,  for  "  Xerxes  Watching  the 
Battle  of  Salamis  "  and  "  Phidias  Building  the  Parthenon  "  ; 
to  the  Mentor  Association,  New  York,  for  "  Coronado  on 
the  March,"  "Magellan  Landing  at  the  Philippines"  and 
"Cartier  at  Montreal";  and  to  Mr.  G.  A.  Reid,  Toronto, 
for  "  The  Coming  of  the  White  Man." 

JAMES  ALBERT  WOODBURN 
THOMAS  FRANCIS  MORAN 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY 1 

II.     THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEKS 18 

III.  THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS 30 

IV.  THE  GREEKS  AS  BUILDERS  AND  ARTISTS 44 

V.     GREEK  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 50 

VI.    THE  SPREAD  OF  GREEK  CIVILIZATION 58 

VII.  THE  ROMANS  AS  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  THE  GREEKS  67 

VIII.    THE  ROMANS  CONQUER  THE  WEST 79 

IX.     ROME,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 88 

X.     CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 96 

XI.  THE  GERMANS,  THE  SUCCESSORS  AND  HEIRS  OF 

THE  ROMANS 102 

XII.    THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 112 

XIII.  ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH 122 

XIV.  THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS 133 

XV.  KING  JOHN  AND  THE  FIGHT  FOR  ENGLISH  LIBERTY  143 

XVI.     ENGLISH  LIFE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 149 

XVII.    PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS 158 

XVIII.    THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY 176 

XIX.    COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA 188 

XX.    THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS 220 

XXI.    THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST 233 

XXII.     ENGLAND  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 246 

XXIII.    FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 257 

v 


vi  CONTENTS 

XXIV.   THE  DUTCH  FIGHT  AGAINST  THEIR  RULER,  THE 

KING  OF  SPAIN 266 

XXV.   ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN  .  270 
XXVI.   THE  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  TO  FOUND 

COLONIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 282 

SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS 295 

INDEX  .  305 


LIST  OF  MAPS 

PAGE 

The  Early  Oriental  World  (Colored) facing  4 

The  Persian  Empire 15 

Greece  in  Ancient  Times 19 

Colonies  of  Greece  (Colored) facing  58 

Alexander's  Empire 65 

Rome  and  Carthage 73 

The  Roman  Empire  at  the  Height  of  Its  Power  (Colored)   .     .  between    88,  89 

Europe  in  the  Early  Centuries  of  the  Christian  Era 103 

England  in  the  Middle  Ages 113 

Normandy  and  Southeast  England  in  1066 136 

The  Routes  of  the  Crusades  (Colored) facing  162 

Trade  Routes  to  the  East 177 

The  Known  World  at  the  Time  of  Columbus 191 

The  Voyages  of  Columbus 214 

The  Discoveries  of  Columbus 215 

Early  Voyages  of  Discovery  and  the  Pope's  Line  of  Division  ....  221 

Magellan's  Expedition,  1519-1522 227 

Early  French  Settlements 232 

The  Scene  of  the  Conquest  by  Cortez 237 

The  Route  of  De  Soto's  Expedition 241 

Drake's  Voyage  around  the  Globe 255 

The  Flight  of  the  Spanish  Armada 280 

French,  Spanish,  and  English  Explorations  in  America  up  to  1600    .      .  283 

Early  Settlements  of  the  English,  French,  and  Spanish  in  the  New  World  291 

LIST  OF  COLORED  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Richard  "The  Lion-Hearted"  Approaching  Jerusalem      .      .     .      facing  Title 

St.  Augustine  Preaching  before  King  Ethelbert        facing  116 

A  Danish  Raid  in  Britain       .    ' facing  126 

Harold's  Last  Stand  at  Senlac .  facing  137 

King  John  Seals  the  Great  Charter facing  144 

Sir  Francis  Drake  Capturing  Don  Pedro's  Ship facing  278 

vii 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  I 
THE   DAWN    OF   HISTORY 

America  "The  New  Part."  In  thinking  about  the 
United  States  of  America  we  should  always  bear  in  mind 
that  our  country  is  a  part  of  the  "New  World."  Before 
Columbus  made  his  famous  voyage  of  discovery  in  1492, 
the  great  American  continents,  stretching  almost  from  pole 
to  pole,  were  unknown.  No  one  had  dreamed  of  the  ex- 
istence of  this  great  body  of  land.  Parts  of  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa  had  been  known  for  centuries  and  these  three 
parts  are  now  called  the  "Old  World." 

The  naming  of  this  "New  Part"  took  place  in  1507. 
It  came  about  in  this  way.  Martin  Waldseemuller,  a 
German  college  professor,  in  writing  the  introduction  to  a 
geography,  suggested  that  the  newly  discovered  continent 
be  named  America  in  honor  of  Americus  Vespucius,  to 
whom  he  gave  the  credit  of  discovering  it.  He  spoke  of 
the  continent  as  the  "new"  or  "fourth  part"  of  the  globe; 
Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  being  the  other  three. 

Now  in  thinking  about  this  "new"  or  "fourth  part"  of 
the  world,  we  should  remember  that  the  history  of  the 
New  World  is  based  upon  that  of  the  Old.  The  men  who 
built  homes  and  founded  colonies  in  the  New  World  came 
from  various  parts  of  the  Old,  more  particularly  from 
Europe.  And  they  brought  with  them  their  tools  and 


2  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

machines,  as  well  as  their  knowledge  of  art  and  agriculture, 
of,  government  and  religion,  of  science  and  invention. 
The  history  of  the  Old  World  was  thus  carried  over  and 
continued  in  the  New.  The  American  colonist  in  his  new 
home  did  not  begin  all  over  again.  His  history  in  the  New 
World  begins  where  it  left  off  in  the  Old.  This  same  thing 
would  occur  at  the  present  time  if  a  group  of  your  neigh- 


RAMESES  AND  His  LIONS 

Rameses,  the  great  Egyptian  king  and  conqueror,  lived  about  1350  B.C.  He 
is  represented  here  in  a  great  triumphal  procession  with  his  lions  at  his  side. 

bors  and  friends  should  emigrate  and  make  homes  in  some 
new  land.  They  would  carry  with  them  certain  parts  of 
their  civilization  and  we  are  going  to  learn  that  the  Ameri- 
can Colonists  did  likewise. 

The  Roots  of  American  History.  Since  the  roots  of 
American  history  extend  back  into  the  soil  of  the  Old 
World,  we  should  know  something  of  the  history  of  this 
Old  World  if  we  would  understand  the  history  of  our  own 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY 


4,      ,    rr    ( INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

country.  We  should  know  in  a  general  way  what  men  did 
and  learned  and  thought,  before  America  was  discovered  in 
1492. 

The  Cradle  of  Our  Civilization.  The  history  of  the 
world  begins  with  the  people  of  the  far  East  or  the  Orient, 
as  it  is  called.  The  cradle  of  the  world's  civilization  was 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  Euphrates  Rivers,  two  of  the 
most  wonderful  and  interesting  river  valleys  in  the  world. 
Here  history  begins  with  the  Egyptians  and  Chaldeans. 
Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  early  achievements  of 
these  eastern  nations. 

The  Egyptians.  There  was  a  very  good  reason  why  an 
early  civilization  should  spring  up  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  River.  The  climate  was  mild  and  the  soil  fertile  and 
it  was  very  easy  to  obtain  food  and  clothing  there.  One 
could  get  a  living  almost  without  working  at  all.  Each 
year  when  the  heavy  rains  came  in  the  mountains,  near  the 
sources  of  the  river,  the  Nile  overflowed  its  banks  ai  1  left 
a  layer  of  fertile  mud  over  all  the  surrounding  country. 
Grain  was  scattered  broadcast  in  this  rich  loam  and  one 
of  the  ancient  writers  tells  us  that  it  was  trampled  into 
the  ground  by  cattle,  goats  and  sheep.  The  result  was  a 
bountiful  harvest,  almost  without  labor  on  the  part  of  the 
farmer.  Egypt  was  called  "The  Granary  of  the  Medi- 
terranean World"  and  often  furnished  food  to  other  peoples 
besides  her  own.  You  will  recall  the  story  of  Joseph  and 
the  other  sons  of  Jacob  who  went  into  Egypt  to  purchase 
corn  when  famine  had  stricken  their  own  land. 

Grain,  however,  was  not  the  only  crop  raised  by  the 
early  Egyptian.  In  his  garden  he  had  peas,  beans, 
radishes,  lettuce,  cucumbers,  and  onions.  In  his  vine- 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY  5 

yard  he  raised  an  abundance  of  grapes  from  which  he 
made  his  own  wine.  He  also  raised  clover  for  his  cattle 
and  flax  for  his  clothing.  If  you  could  take  a  peep  into 
his  barnyard,  you  would  see  sheep,  cows,  goats,  pigs, 
ducks,  geese,  and  pigeons,  as  well  as  antelopes,  gazelles, 
and  storks.  Chickens  were  not  known  to  him  and  he  did 
not  domesticate  the  horse  until  a  later  time.  Some  of 
these  animals,  however,  were  not  much  like  those  to  be 
found  now  on  an  American  farm.  The  pig,  for  example, 
was  very  thin  and  scrawny,  more  like  the  wild  hogs  or 
" razor-backs"  which  ranged  at  one  time  through  our 
forests. 

Since  the  water  for  the  farmer's  fields  came  all  at  once, 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  store  up  a  part  of  it  for  future 
use,  so  the  Egyptian  built  reservoirs  and  canals  and 
irrigated  his  land  in  much  the  same  way  that  some  of  our 
Western  farmers  are  doing  at  the  present  time.  One  of 
these  reservoirs  was  known  as  Lake  Moeris.  It  was  many 
miles  in  diameter  and  was  found  to  be  in  perfect  condition 
when  examined  by  a  Roman  engineer,  two  thousand  years 
after  it  was  built.  These  old  Egyptians  made  things  in  a 
very  substantial  way. 

As  it  was  so  easy  to  make  a  living,  the  Egyptian  found 
it  possible  to  turn  his  attention  to  other  things.  He  was 
especially  skillful  in  architecture.  His  buildings  were,  as  a 
rule,  massive  and  very  durable.  The  best  example  of  this 
kind  of  architecture  is  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Gizeh,  which 
is  still  standing,  although  built  about  five  thousand  years 
ago.  This  huge  structure,  the  largest  in  the  world,  covers 
thirteen  acres  of  land  and  is  four  hundred  and  eighty-one 
feet  high.  It  contains  more  than  two  million  blocks  of 


6 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


stone,  some  of  them  weighing  more  than  fifty  tons.  Its 
faces  were  beautifully  polished  and  its  joints  so  nicely 
fitted  together  that  they  could  scarcely  be  seen  with  the 
naked  eye.  Thirty  years  of  the  hardest  kind  of  labor 


BUILDING  THE  PYRAMIDS 

were  required  to  build  this  pyramid.  The  blocks  of  stone 
were  quarried  in  the  mountains,  dragged  down  to  the  Nile, 
and  then  conveyed  on  rafts  to  the  site  of  the  pyramid.  All 
this  was  done  by  hand.  The  horse  was  not  in  use  among 
the  Egyptians  and  hoisting  machinery  was  apparently  not 
known.  These  pyramids  were  the  tombs  of  the  kings. 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY 


Upon  his  private  dwelling,  however,  the  Egyptian 
did  not  spend  very  much  time  or  labor.  He  lived  in 
a  rude  house,  consisting  of  a  wooden  frame  covered  with 
clay,  dried  in  the  sun.  These  houses  were  very  perishable. 
But  the  Temple  of  Karnak, 
one  fourth  of  a  mile  long, 
still  exists  as  a  splendid  and 
impressive  ruin  after  en- 
during the  storms  of  thou- 
sands of  years. 

In  science,  for  a  beginner 
the  Egyptian  did  wonder- 
ful things.  The  flood 
washed  away  his  boundary 
lines  each  year;  hence  he 
had  need  of  geometry  and 
surveying  in  order  to  fix 
the  line  fences.  The  clear 
climate  and  the  level  plains 

were  favorable  to   a   study 

c    ,-•        i  i  i          THE  "HALL  OF  COLUMNS,"  TEMPLE 

of   the   heavens;   hence,   he  OF  KARNAK 

made    advances     in     astron-      Only  the  ruins  remain  now  of  this 

wonderful   structure.     The    picture 
omy.        He      Calculated      the      shows  how  it  must  have  looked  in 

length    of   the   year   to    be     Th^se^gantL 


nearly  three  hundred  sixty- 

five     and    one    fourth     days      must  have  taken  the  labor  of  thou- 
,,..,,..  .  sands  of  men  for  many  years. 

and  divided  it  into  months, 

thus  making  the  calendar  which,  with  a  few  minor  correc- 
tions, we  use  to-day.  He  foretold  eclipses,  knew  the  points  of 
the  compass,  used  the  decimal  system,  invented  a  good 
system  of  weights  and  measures,  and  measured  time  by 


8  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

means  of  the  sun-dial  and  the  water-clock.  In  arithmetic 
he  used  figures  as  high  as  millions,  and  in  constructing  his 
buildings,  he  used  the  principles  of  the  arch,  the  lever,  and 
the  inclined  plane. 

When  we  review  the  civilization  of  ancient  Egypt  we  are 
almost  tempted  to  say  that  there  is  "  nothing  new  under 
the  sun."  Egypt  certainly  made  a  good  beginning  and  we 
should  remember  that  the  Nile  River  was  at  the  foundation 
of  her  prosperity.  An  old  Greek  writer  called  Egypt,  "the 
gift  of  the  Nile,"  and  certainly  the  Nile  River  largely 
made  Egypt  what  she  was. 

The  Chaldeans.  The  little  tongue  of  land  between  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  Rivers  was  occupied  in  very  ancient 
times  by  another  important  people,  the  Chaldeans,  or  the 
Babylonians,  as  they  are  sometimes  called.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  famous  little  strips  of  land  in  the  world.  It  has 
been  called,  "the  graveyard  of  empires  and  nations," 
because  so  many  different  peoples  lived  and  died  on  the 
little  peninsula. 

The  civilization  of  Chaldea  was  much  like  that  of  Egypt. 
The  life  of  the  people  in  old  Chaldea  was  based  upon  her 
two  great  rivers  in  much  the  same  way  that  the  life  of  the 
Egyptians  was  based  upon  the  Nile. 

Agriculture  was  the  principal  occupation  and  the  land 
was  made  exceptionally  fertile  by  irrigation  from  the  rivers. 
In  fact,  the  crops  were  so  marvelously  large  that  the  old 
Greek  historian,  Herodotus,  who  traveled  in  Chaldea,  said 
that  he  was  afraid  to  tell  the  whole  truth  about  them  for 
fear  people  would  not  believe  him;  and  Herodotus,  as  you 
may  find  out  sometime,  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  some  pretty 
big  stories  about  what  he  saw. 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY  9 

Brick-making,  next  to  agriculture,  was  the  most  impor- 
tant industry.  The  Chaldeans,  unlike  the  Egyptians,  did 
not  have  stone  for  their  buildings  and  used  brick  almost 
entirely.  These  bricks  were  made  from  clay  which  was 
very  easy  to  get  in  this  country.  Some  of  the  bricks  were 
dried  in  the  sun,  and  others  baked  in  kilns.  On  the  whole, 
they  made  rather  poor  building  material,  and  yet  the 
Chaldeans  built  some  notable  buildings  from  them.  The 
Tower  Temple,  for  example,  rose  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid, 
story  after  story,  above  the  plain  and  was  used  as  a  temple 
for  religious  worship  and  for  observing  the  stars,  as  well. 

From  these  rude  bricks  were  also  made  the  famous 
elevated  gardens,  in  imitation  of  mountain  scenery.  The 
most  noted  of  these  were  the  "  Hanging  Gardens/'  built  by 
the  King  Nebuchadnezzar  for  the  pleasure  of  his  queen,  who 
formerly  lived  in  the  Median  mountains  and  hungered  for 
mountain  scenery.  These  famous  gardens  were  considered, 
as  you  know,  one  of  the  "  Seven  wonders  of  the  world." 

In  science,  the  Chaldeans  were  as  far  advanced  as  the 
Egyptians  and  in  some  respects,  more  so.  They  were  also 
exceedingly  practical  in  making  use  of  their  scientific 
knowledge.  They  invented  the  potter's  wheel  and  used 
the  arch  in  the  construction  of  aqueducts.  They  knew 
the  use  of  the  lever  and  pulley  and  devised  a  good  system 
of  weights  and  measures.  They  divided  time  into  years, 
months,  weeks,  days,  hours,  minutes  and  seconds  and 
measured  it  by  the  sun-dial  in  the  day  time  and  by  the 
water-clock  at  night.  They  predicted  eclipses,  made  maps 
of  the  heavens,  and  marked  out  the  course  of  the  sun. 
This  was  not  a  simple  thing  to  do.  Would  you  think  it  an 
easy  task  to  go  out  into  the  night  and  study  the  stars  as 


10  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

the  Chaldeans  did  without  teachers,  books,  or  instruments, 
except  those  of  the  simplest  and  rudest  kind?  Of  course, 
some  of  this  was  a  very  crude  kind  of  astronomy,  and  had 
to  do  with  fortune-telling  by  means  of  the  stars,  but  we 
should  remember  that  even  the  English  people  attempted 


THE  HANGING  GARDENS  OF  BABYLON 

to  tell  fortunes  by  the  stars  as  late  as  the  time  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Egypt  and  Chaldea,  then,  as  the  "twin  sources  of  the 
world's    culture"    made    many   notable    contributions    to 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY 


11 


civilization  which  we  in  America  are  making  use  of  at  the 
present  time.  When  we  get  our  first  glimpse  of  these 
people  away  back  in  ancient  times  we  discover  that  they 
were  not  barbarians  by  any  means. 

The  Phoenicians.     These  two  nations,  however,  are  not 
the  only  ones  that  were  prominent  in  the  dawn  of  history. 
The  Phoenicians  were  also  important.     They  lived  on  the 
narrow  strip  of  ter- 
ritory, one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  long 
and   ten   to    fifteen 
miles   wide,   at   the 
eastern  end   of  the 
Mediterranean    Sea 
(see  map  facing  p. 
4).     Here  with  their 
backs   to    the   Leb- 
anon  mountains 
and   their  faces  to- 


MODEL  OF  A  PHOENICIAN  SHIP 

These  swift  and  trim  little  boats  were  the  first 
carriers  of  commerce  on  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  They  were  propelled  by  sails  and  oars 
and  weathered  many  fierce  gales. 


wards  the  sea,  they 
came,  naturally 
enough,  at  a  very 
early  time  to  be  sea- 
faring men.  They  were  the  sailors,  traders,  and  colonizers  of 
the  ancient  oriental  world.  As  early  as  1500  B.C.,  the  Medi- 
terranean was  dotted  with  their  ships  —  small  open  boats 
propelled  by  oars  and  sails.  They  almost  had  a  monopoly 
of  the  sea.  The  north  star  was  called  the  "  Phoenicians' 
Star/7  because  it  guided  the  course  of  the  Phoenicians' 
boats.  At  that  time  the  mariner's  compass  which  is  used 
on  all  ships  now-a-days  was  not  known.  In  these  frail 


12  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

vessels  the  Phoenicians  traversed  every  part  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  and  even  ventured  out  at  times  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  In  their  trading  journeys  by  land  and 
sea  they  brought  amber  from  the  Baltic,  tin  from  Britain, 
and  ostrich  feathers  from  Ethiopia. 

Some  of  the  products  of  Phoenicia  were  famous  the 
world  over.  The  cedars  of  Lebanon,  for  example,  fur- 
nished excellent  ship  timber  and  made  the  tallest  and 
the  straightest  masts;  the  glass  of  Sidon,  beautifully 
colored,  cut  and  polished,  was  eagerly  sought  every- 
where; and  the  purple  dye,  made  from  a  snail  or  shell- 
fish found  near  Tyre,  was  used  to  color  the  robes  of  kings 
and  queens. 

The  Phoenicians  also  took  large  contracts  from  neighbor- 
ing peoples.  They  built  ships  and  rented  or  sold  them; 
they  made  a  voyage  around  Africa  for  the  Egyptians; 
they  built  the  bridges  across  the  Hellespont  over  which 
an  army  of  a  million  Persians  invaded  Greece;  and  they 
furnished  some  of  the  material  and  did  a  large  part  of  the 
finer  work  on  Solomon's  Temple  in  Jerusalem. 

The  greatest  importance  of  the  Phoenicians,  however, 
does  not  lie  in  what  they  made  or  in  what  they  found  out 
for  themselves.  The  most  important  thing  they  did  was 
to  take  the  inventions  and  ideas  of  other  peoples  and 
spread  them  far  and  wide.  For  this  reason  they  have 
been  called  "the  missionaries  of  civilization."  For  ex- 
ample, they  obtained  the  alphabet,  probably  from  the 
Egyptians,  and,  having  made  some  improvements  upon  it, 
gave  it  to  the  Greeks;  the  Greeks  gave  it  to  the  Romans 
and  the  Romans  handed  it  down  to  the  Germans  and 
other  peoples  of  modern  Europe.  Thus,  the  Phoenician 


THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY 


13 


alphabet  with  its  twenty-two  characters  is  the  basis  of  the 
alphabet  which  we  are  using  to-day. 

The  Hebrews.     The  Hebrews  were  also  an  interesting 


BUILDING  SOLOMON'S  TEMPLE 

The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  was  one  of  the  most  famous  buildings  in  the  world. 
It  was  built  by  King  Solomon  with  the  assistance  of  skilled  workmen  from 
Phoenicia.  The  Phoenicians  also  furnished  some  of  the  building  material. 

and  important  people  in  this  early  time.  They  were 
mostly  shepherds  and  therefore  different  from  the  three 
peoples  already  described.  While  the  civilization  of 
Egypt  and  Chaldea  was  based  on  their  great  rivers  and 


14  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

that  of  Phoenicia  upon  the  sea,  the  foundation  of  Hebrew 
civilization  was  religion.  The  Hebrews  did  very  little  to 
advance  the  material  civilization  of  the  world.  They  were 
not  "mighty  builders/'  like  the  Egyptians,  or  great  traders 
like  the  Phoenicians;  they  were  not  famous  in  science  or 
art,  or  invention,  but  they  have  the  proud  distinction  of 
being  the  great  moral  and  religious  teachers  of  the  world. 
Nations  before  them  had  religions  of  various  kinds  but 
the  Hebrews  were  the  first  to  worship  one  supreme  God. 
This  constituted  a  purer  and  more  elevating  form  of 
religion  than  any  other. 

After  a  time  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews  developed  into 
Christianity  and  thus  became  the  religion  of  a  large  part 
of  the  people  of  the  world.  The  Hebrews  also  gave  us  the 
Ten  Commandments,  "the  noblest  brief  collection  of  the 
laws  of  right  living  that  has  come  down  from  the  ancient 
world."  When  we  consider  the  writings  of  the  Hebrews 
and  their  religious  influence  upon  the  civilized  world,  we 
must  give  to  this  nation  a  high  place  among  the  historic 
peoples  of  ancient  times. 

The  country  which  the  Hebrews  occupied  was  known  as 
Palestine  and  lay  south  of  Phoenicia  (see  map  facing  p.  4). 
It  was  a  small  country,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long  and  one  hundred  miles  wide — a  mere  dot  on  the  face 
of  the  globe  —  and  yet  within  these  narrow  bounds  great 
things  were  done  by  such  Hebrew  kings  as  Saul,  "the 
mighty  man  of  valor,"  David,  "the  sweet  singer  of  Israel," 
and  Solomon,  proverbial  for  his  wisdom.  And  still  greater 
things  were  done  by  the  Hebrew  prophets  and  teachers. 
Interesting  stories  of  these  great  men  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Old  Testament. 


THE   DAWN   OF   HISTORY 


15 


The  Persians.  And  now  a  word  about  another  eastern 
people  —  the  Persians.  These  were  also  quite  different 
from  the  other  peoples  already  mentioned.  They  did  not 
seem  to  care  much  for  art  or  literature.  Their  architecture 
was  rather  poor  and  they  did  not  do  much  in  science. 
They  were,  however,  noted  in  another  direction.  They 


.  Royal  Road 


THE  PERSIAN  EMPIRE 

were  famous  as  soldiers  and  governors.  They  were  the 
empire  builders  of  their  day.  Persia  was  at  first  a  small  dis- 
trict of  country  lying  near  the  Persian  Gulf  (see  map  facing 
p.  4).  But  under  its  famous  kings,  Cyrus,  Cambyses,  and 
Darius,  it  expanded  into  a  great  empire,  extending  from 
the  Indus  River  on  the  east  to  the  Aegean  Sea  on  the 
west  —  a  distance  of  more  than  three  thousand  miles. 


. 


16  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

It  was  from  five  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  width 
and  had  a  population  of  seventy-five  million  —  three 
fourths  as  many  people  as  there  are  in  the  United  States 
to-day.  If  it  could  be  moved  to  the  westward,  the  Persian 
Empire  would  cover  more  than  one  half  of  the  map  of 
Europe.  It  embraced  all  of  the  known  world  except  India 
and  China  on  the  east  and  Greece  and  Carthage  on  the 
west.  The  Persians,  then,  were  the  conquerors,  rulers, 
and  governors  —  the  Romans  of  their  day. 

We  are  not  inclined  in  these  days  to  praise  a  conqueror 
who  takes  possession  of  the  country  of  a  weaker  nation, 
but  it  should  be  said  in  favor  of  these  Persians  that  they 
united  the  East  under  a  much  better  form  of  government 
than  it  had  ever  known  before.  The  tribes  which  had 
been  warring  with  each  other  for  centuries  were  compelled 
to  live  together  in  peace  and  harmony  under  Persian  rule 
for  two  hundred  years.  With  this  period  of  peace  came 
prosperity  and  advancement  in  civilization. 

The  Persians  also  did  many  things  to  bind  together 
their  vast  empire.  They  made  good  roads  —  better  than 
were  ever  built  before.  The  most  famous  of  these  was 
the  Royal  Road,  extending  from  Susa  to  Sardis,  a  distance 
of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  Along  this  famous  highway 
there  traveled  great  crowds  of  people,  representing  scores 
of  surrounding  tribes.  Some  of  these  people  rode  on  tire- 
less Bokhara  ponies,  or  horses,  while  others  trudged  along 
with  donkeys  or  camels,  laden  with  goods  for  some  distant 
market.  Government  messengers,  mounted  on  swift  Ara- 
bian horses,  often  made  the  fifteen  hundred  miles,  which  is 
nearly  half  way  across  the  United  States,  in  six  days. 
Ordinarily  it  took  about  three  months  to  make  the  journey. 


THE   DAWN   OF   HISTORY  17 

An  old  Greek  traveler  marveled  at  the  speed  with  which 
the  royal  messengers,  changing  horses  and  men  at  short 
intervals,  could  carry  the  mail.  He  thought  it  very 
remarkable  that  they  never  stopped  for  wind,  rain,  or  the 
darkness  of  night.  What  would  he  say  if  he  could  see  a 
present-day  mail  train  like  "The  Twentieth  Century 
Limited,"  flying  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  a  thousand 
miles,  in  twenty  hours?  This  train  does  not  stop  for  rain 
or  darkness,  either. 

In  this  brief  account  of  these  Eastern  peoples  among 
whom  was  the  " cradle  of  our  civilization"  we  can  see  how 
far  back  in  the  history  of  the  world  are  the  roots  of  the 
American  life  of  to-day.  Although  these  five  empires  and 
nations  declined  and  fell  centuries  ago,  many  of  their 
achievements  are  still  in  existence.  The  architecture  of 
the  Egyptian,  the  agriculture  and  industries  of  the  Chal- 
deans, the  commercial  genius  of  the  Phoenicians,  the 
religion  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  military  and  governing 
skill  of  the  Persians,  all  have  lent  aid  to  us  in  the  United 
States.  They  "lit  the  torch"  of  civilization  and  passed  it 
on  to  the  nations  farther  west.  Europe  now  becomes  the 
scene  of  action.  After  these  eastern  nations  had  passed 
away,  Greece  became  the  center  of  the  world's  civilization 
to  the  study  of  which  we  shall  now  turn. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  What  we  know  of  the  history  of  Egypt  goes  back  four  thousand 
years  before  Christ.    It  has  been  nearly  two  thousand  years  since  Christ 
lived,  making  about  six  thousand  years  of  recorded  history.    Represent 
on  the  blackboard  these  six  thousand  years  by  a  line,  allowing  one  inch 
to   each  century. 

2.  Mark  off  the  tune  since  the  birth  of  Christ.     Call  that  part  of  the 
line  to  the  left  B.C.  (Before  Christ),  the  part  to  the  right  A.D.  (Anno  Domini, 
or  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord,  meaning  since  Christ  was  born). 


18  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

3.  Mark  off  on  the  line  the  part  covered  since  the   "  New  World " 
was  known  as   such. 

4.  The  United  States  as  a  nation  is  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  old.     Mark  off  on  the  line  the  part  covered  by  United  States  history. 

Now  study  your  line  carefully  to  see  what  it  shows. 

5.  Tell  at  least  one  thing  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  each  of  the  five 
early  nations  mentioned  in  this  chapter.     Show  the  connection,  if  you  can, 
between  their  daily  life  and  ours.     Think  carefully. 

6.  What  is  meant  by  "  The  Cradle  of  Civilization  "  and  "  The  Missionaries 
of  Civilization"? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Aegean.     e-je'<Xn  Herodotus.     he-rSd'6-tws 
Americus    Vespucius.     a-mgr'I-CMs         Israel.     Iz'ra-61 

v6s-pu'shl-us  Karnak.     kar'nak 

Bokhara.     b6-ka'ra  Lebanon,     leb'd-non 

Cambyses.     kam-bi'sez  Nebuchadnezzar.     ngb'u-kad-ngz'ar 

Chaldea.     kal-de'd  Palestine,     pal'es-tm 

Cyrus,     sl'rus  Phoenicia.     fe-nfeh'I-ci 

Darius,     dd-rl'us  Susa.     soo'sa 

Ethiopia,     e'thg-6'pl-a  Sardis.     sar'dfe 

Euphrates,     u-fra'tez  Tigris,     tl'grls 

Gizeh.     ge'zg  Waldseemuller.     valfza-mUrer 
Hellespont,     h£l'les-pSnt 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   RISE    OF   THE    GREEKS 

"Our  laws,  our  literature,  our  religion,  our  art,  have  their  roots  in 
Greece."  —  SHELLEY. 

While  the  Persians  were  welding  together  a  great  empire 
in  the  East,  the  most  interesting  and  most  important  nation 
of  the  ancient  world  was  growing  up  in  Greece  and  the 
surrounding  islands.  Here  was  the  first  home  of  culture  in 
Europe. 


THE  RISE  OF   THE  GREEKS 


19 


Greece,  "The  Heir  of  the  Orient."  Greece  has  been 
called  the  "heir  of  the  Orient";  this  means  that  Greece 
inherited  the  civilization  of  the  eastern  nations.  She 
developed  it  to  a  still  higher  degree  of  perfection.  Greece 


GREECE  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES 

is  a  peninsula  jutting  out  into  the  sea.  She  thus  came 
into  contact  with  Phoenician  commerce  and  other  currents 
of  civilization  coming  from  the  East.  The  journey  from 
Phoenicia  to  Greece  was  both  short  and  easy.  It  was  not 
difficult  for  sailors,  even  without  the  use  of  the  mariner's 
compass,  to  find  their  way  from  island  to  island  and 


20 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


finally  to  the  mainland  of  Greece.  For  this  reason,  the 
islands  of  the  Aegean  Sea  have  often  been  called  "  stepping 
stones. "  Greece  thus  faced  the  Orient  and  was  the  first 
European  country  to  profit  by  the  civilization  of  the  East. 
She  was  the  first  to  extend  "  welcoming  hands  to  the 
bearers  of  the  world's  best  gifts." 

But  the  Greeks  had  also  developed  a  most  beautiful 
civilization  of  their  own.  They  were  not  mere  imitators. 
They  were  a  bright,  alert  and  quick  people.  They  had 
good  minds  and  lively  imaginations  and  they  lived  in  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  countries  of  the  world.  The  sea, 
the  rivers,  the  mountains  and  the  lakes,  combined  with  a 
transparent  atmosphere  and  temperate  climate  to  make 
living  in  Greece  pleasant  and  even  joyful.  And  so  on 
Greek  soil  there  grew  up  a  freer  and  better  civilization 
than  any  which  had  existed  in  the  East.  There  was,  as 
we  shall  see  later,  a  greater  freedom  in  religion,  art, 

government,  and  modes  of  living 
than  the  Oriental  nations  ever 
saw.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
the  people  of  to-day  admire 
Greek  civilization  so  much  and 
have  profited  so  largely  by  it. 

Patriotism  and  Public  Spirit. 
In  the  first  place,  we  admire 
the  Greeks  for  their  fine  patriot- 
ism and  unselfish  public  spirit. 
The  Greek  was  always  ready 
to  fight  for  his  country  and  to 
sacrifice  himself,  if  necessary,  for  the  public  welfare.  We 
admire  any  man  who  has  good  principles  and  high  ideals 


A  GREEK  WARRIOR 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEKS  21 

and  is  ready  to  fight  for  them  when  necessary.  This  the 
Greek  did. 

The  Wars  with  the  Persians.  There  is  abundant  evi- 
dence of  this  patriotism  and  public  spirit  in  the  wars 
which  the  Greeks  waged  against  the  Persians.  When  a 
nation  is  victorious  in  arms  and  has  had  a  taste  of  con- 
quest, it  is  very  difficult  for  it  to  stop  fighting.  After  the 
Persians  had  conquered  everybody  in  the  East,  they  cast 
their  eyes  towards  the  West  and  fastened  them  upon 
Greece. 

Now,  when  one  nation  wishes  to  make  war  upon  another, 
it  is  usually  easy  enough  to  find  a  cause  for  doing  so. 
The  Persian  War  began  in  this  way.  When  the  Persians 
were  subduing  Greek  cities  in  Asia  Minor,  some  years 
before,  the  Greeks  of  Athens  —  the  Athenians  —  sent 
assistance  to  their  kinsmen.  The  result  was  the  looting 
and  burning  of  Sardis,  the  Persian  capital.  King  Darius 
was  terribly  angry  and  it  is  said  that  he  appointed  a  herald 
to  cry  out  to  him  three  times  each  day,  "Sire,  Remember 
the  Athenians."  And  he  did  remember  the  Athenians. 

The  First  Invasion  (492  B.C.).  He  gathered  together  a 
large  army  and  fleet  and  sent  them  against  Greece.  They 
accomplished  nothing,  however,  as  the  vessels  were  dashed 
to  splinters  in  a  terrific  storm  off  Mount  Athos.  Darius 
began  his  preparations  anew.  Before  starting  out  a  second 
time,  however,  he  sent  messengers  to  the  Greek  cities 
asking  them  for  " earth  and  water"  in  token  of  their 
submission  to  the  power  of  Persia.  The  messengers 
received  their  earth  and  water  from  the  Greeks  in  this 
way:  they  were  cast  into  a  pit  at  Athens  and  into  a  well 
at  Sparta  and  told  to  help  themselves  to  all  the  earth  and 


22  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

water  they  wanted.  The  Persian  king  was  insulted  by 
this,  of  course,  and  so  the  fight  was  on. 

The  Second  Invasion  (490  B.C.).  The  fleet  and  army 
went  directly  to  Greece  and  the  army  was  landed  on  the 
Plain  of  Marathon,  near  Mount  Pentelicus  and  some 
twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  from  Athens.  Here,  the 
Athenians  went  out  to  meet  them  and  to  engage  them 
almost  single-handed.  Sparta  had  promised  to  give 
assistance  and  when  the  Persian  hosts  were  sighted, 
Phidippides,  a  swift  Athenian  runner,  was  sent  to  that 
city  over  one  hundred  fifty  miles  of  rugged  road  to  notify 
the  Spartans  to  hasten  to  the  scene  of  the  battle.  The 
Spartans,  however,  declined  to  come,  saying  that  it  was 
against  their  law  to  start  out  upon  a  military  expedition 
before  the  full  of  the  moon.  This  probably  was  not  the 
real  reason  for  their  refusal.  It  is  likely  that  they  were 
not  particularly  anxious  to  help  the  Athenians,  their  old 
rivals,  out  of  a  tight  place. 

The  Athenians,  therefore,  with  about  ten  thousand  men, 
were  compelled  to  face  the  victorious  Persians,  with  five  or 
possibly  ten  times  that  number. 

The  Battle  of  Marathon  (490  B.C.).  The  Greek  hearts 
were  strong,  however,  and  Miltiades,  their  leader,  used 
splendid  strategy.  He  marched  his  men  out  boldly  and 
rapidly  to  encounter  the  enemy.  When  about  an  arrow's 
flight  distant  from  the  Persian  ranks,  the  Greeks  broke  into 
a  run  and  were  upon  the  enemy  in  an  instant.  The 
Persians  were  surprised  and  confused  and  their  arrows  had 
little  effect  upon  the  heavy  armor  of  the  Greeks.  The 
long  spears  of  the  Greeks,  on  the  other  hand,  played  havoc 
with  the  Persians.  The  battle  was  soon  over,  and  six 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEKS 


23 


thousand  four  hundred  Persians  lay  dead  upon  the  field. 
Only  one  hundred  ninety-two  Greeks  were  killed.  Again 
Phidippides,  although  weary  from  fighting  in  the  battle 


BATTLE  OF  MARATHON 

and  possibly  not  yet  wholly  recovered  from  his  long  run  to 
Sparta,  was  sent  to  convey  the  news  to  Athens,  twenty- 
two  miles  away.  He  raced  over  the  rough  roads  of  the 
mountains,  entered  the  city,  and  after  shouting,  "Ours  is 
the  victory,"  fell  dead  in  his  tracks. 

The   Third  Invasion   (480    B.C.).     Beaten,  the    Persians 
sailed  away  to  their  home  in  Asia,  only  to  return  again 


24  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

ten  years  later.  In  the  meantime,  the  great  King  Darius 
had  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Xerxes,  a  vain 
braggart  with  far  less  ability  than  his  father.  King 
Xerxes  called  together  a  council  of  the  nobles  and  said  to 
them,  in  a  boasting  way:  "I  propose  to  bridge  the  Helles- 
pont and  march  through  Europe  and  set  fire  to  Athens  for 
burning  Sardis.  By  reducing  Attica  and  Greece,  the  sky 
will  be  the  only  boundary  of  Persia."  He  determined  to 
hurl  the  whole  strength  of  the  great  Persian  empire  against 
Greece,  and  spent  four  years  in  active  preparation  for  the 
expedition.  He  collected  an  army  of  probably  five  hundred 
thousand  men  and  a  fleet  of  twelve  hundred  ships.  Mind- 
ful of  the  disaster  off  Mount  Athos,  he  caused  a  canal  to 
be  cut  across  the  isthmus  at  this  point  for  the  passage  of 
his  ships.  This  took  three  years.  Now,  with  his  motley 
horde,  gathered  together  from  forty-six  different  tribes  and 
nations,  he  was  ready  to  advance.  Side  by  side  with  his 
well-disciplined  Persians  were  the  dark-skinned  Ethio- 
pians, clad  in  the  hides  of  beasts,  and  savages  from  Central 
Asia. 

To  transport  this  huge  throng  from  Asia  to  Europe  was 
no  easy  task.  He  caused  pontoon  bridges  to  be  con- 
structed across  the  Hellespont  —  bridges  of  boats  lashed 
together  with  planks.  The  rough  sea  broke  the  first  of 
these  bridges,  whereupon  Xerxes  flew  into  a  rage  and 
caused  the  Hellespont  to  be  flogged  on  account  of  its 
naughtiness.  Shortly  after,  the  troops  passed  in  safety 
to  the  other  side,  with  the  Hellespont  apparently  on  its 
good  behavior. 

The  Battle  of  Thermopylae.  The  outlook  for  the  Greeks 
was  gloomy  enough,  but  they  met  the  attack  like  men. 


THE  RISE  OF   THE  GREEKS  25 

This  time  the  Spartans  led  and  their  King  Leonidas,  with 
three  hundred  Spartans  and  a  few  thousand  allies,  met 
the  advancing  Persian  host  at  Thermopylae.  Here,  the 
Persians  attempted  to  enter  central  Greece  through  a 
narrow  pass,  twenty  feet  wide,  which  separated  the  moun- 
tains from  the  sea.  Leonidas  and  his  brave  men  disputed 
the  passage  and  the  battle  raged  for  three  days.  The 
whole  Persian  army  could  not  dislodge  the  stubborn 
Greeks  in  the  narrow  pass.  Xerxes  charged  the  pass  time 
after  time  only  to  be  repulsed.  He  even  sent  the  flower  of 
his  army,  the  "Ten  Thousand  Immortals,"  against  Leoni- 
das, but  all  in  vain.  Finally,  a  traitor  showed  the  Persians 
a  secret  path  by  which  they  crossed  the  mountains  and 
attacked  the  Greeks  in  the  rear.  Leonidas,  seeing  that 
the  day  was  lost,  permitted  his  allies  to  seek  safety  in 
flight,  but  he  and  his  noble  three  hundred  stood  their 
ground  and  fought  until  not  one  of  them  was  left  alive. 
A  short  time  after  the  war,  a  monument  was  placed  upon 
the  hillock  where  these  brave  men  made  their  last  stand 
and  this  inscription  was  carved  upon  it:  "Stranger,  go 
and  tell  the  Spartans  that  we  lie  here,  having  obeyed  their 
word."  Leonidas  and  his  Spartans  were  defeated  at 
Thermopylae  in  one  sense,  but  in  another  they  won  a 
brilliant  victory.  The  Spartan  law  would  not  permit 
retreat  and  Leonidas  and  his  men,  preferring  death  to 
dishonor,  sacrificed  themselves  upon  the  altar  of  duty  — 
"examples  for  all  time  of  courage  and  patriotic  devotion." 
The  Athenians  Flee  to  the  "  Wooden  Walls."  Athens, 
and  in  fact  all  of  Greece,  was  now  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Persian  conquerors.  Xerxes  bore  down  upon  Athens, 
bent  upon  taking  his  revenge.  What  should  the  Athenians 


26  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

do?  Where  should  they  turn?  The  priestess,  presiding 
over  the  Oracle  at  Delphi,  who  was  supposed  to  foretell 
future  events,  had  prophesied  that  the  Athenians  would 
find  safety  behind  "  wooden  walls. "  Some,  therefore, 
wished  to  hide  behind  the  wooden  palisades  of  a  fortified 
hill  called  the  Acropolis,  and  others  to  flee  to  the  forests; 
but  Themistocles,  a  wise  and  able  leader,  persuaded  them 
that  the  "  wooden  walls "  meant  the  sides  of  the  ships. 
Accordingly,  Athens  was  deserted  and  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand  people  were  carried  in  ships  to  Salamis 
and  other  islands  in  the  vicinity.  Xerxes  and  his  army  then 
proceeded  to  pillage  and  to  destroy  the  abandoned  city. 

The  Sea-Fight  at  Salamis.  The  Greek  fighting  men,  in 
the  meantime,  had  gone  on  board  their  ships  and  were 
waiting  an  opportunity  to  attack  the  Persian  fleet.  The 
Greeks  had  nearly  four  hundred  ships  and  the  Persians 
twice  as  many.  The  ships,  you  know,  were  propelled  by 
oars.  Themistocles  saw  that  it  would  be  to  his  advantage 
to  fight  the  battle  in  a  narrow  place  where  all  of  the 
Persian  ships  could  not  be  used  at  one  time.  So  he 
managed  to  bring  on  the  attack  in  the  narrow  strait  which 
separates  the  island  of  Salamis  from  the  mainland. 

In  addition  to  the  immense  size  of  the  squadron,  Xerxes 
had  famous  sailors  from  among  the  Phoenicians  and 
Egyptians.  He  was,  therefore,  supremely  confident  of 
victory;  and,  in  order  that  he  might  enjoy  the  battle  to 
the  fullest  extent,  he  caused  a  golden  throne  to  be  built  on 
the  hillside  from  which  he  could  view  the  spectacle.  But  it 
is  probable  that  the  great  king  did  not  especially  enjoy  the 
entertainment.  The  battle  lasted  from  morning  until  night 
and  the  Persian  fleet  was  utterly  routed  and  one  half  of  it 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEKS 


27 


destroyed.  The  victorious  Athenians  then  returned  to 
their  plundered  city  and  repaired  the  damage  done  by  the 
invaders.  The  poet,  Byron,  who  was  always  an  ardent 


BATTLE  OF  SALAMIS 

admirer  of  Greek  life  and  character,  wrote  the  following 
lines  about  this  great  sea  fight: 

"A  King  sat  on  the  rocky  brow 
Which  looks  o'er  sea-born  Salamis; 
And  ships  by  thousands  lay  below, 
And  men  in  nations,  —  all  were  his. 
He  counted  them  at  break  of  day, 
And  when  the  sun  set,  where  were  they?" 


28  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Final  Defeat  for  the  Persians.  One  more  battle  and 
the  Persian  Wars  were  over.  The  stubborn  valor  of  the 
Spartans  and  the  brilliant,  dashing  skill  of  the  Athenians 
routed  another  immense  Persian  army  near  Plataea,  in 
Central  Greece.  It  is  said  that  out  of  two  hundred  and 


XERXES  WATCHING  THE  BATTLE  OF  SALAMIS 

sixty  thousand  Persians  engaged  in  this  battle,  only  three 
thousand  got  back  to  their  homes  in  Asia.  The  Greeks 
lost  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  war  was  over. 
The  small  flying  remnant  of  the  Persians  was  glad  enough 
to  escape  to  Asia,  and  no  Persian  army  ever  again  invaded 
Greece. 

The  Real  Result  of  the  Persian  Wars.  Now,  what  did 
this  victory  mean?  It  meant  much  to  Greece,  of  course, 
but  vastly  more  to  the  civilized  world,  and  it  means  much 
to  us.  In  a  word,  it  meant  that  the  free  and  elevating 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEKS  29 

civilization  of  Greece  was  to  dominate  Europe,  instead  of 
the  narrow  and  oppressive  spirit  of  Persia.  Two  different 
kinds  of  civilization  were  contending  at  Marathon  and  the 
better  kind  fortunately  prevailed.  We  in  America  are 
now  following  Greek  rather  than  Persian  ideals. 

The  victory  also  made  Greece  a  world  power  and  gave 
her  confidence  in  her  own  strength  and  character.  It  also 
inspired  her  to  great  things  in  art  and  literature  during 
the  " Golden  Age"  of  Greek  history,  which  you  will  read 
about  in  a  later  chapter.  In  short,  the  Greeks  and,  more 
particularly,  the  Athenians  found  themselves  during  the  wars 
with  Persia.  As  one  of  their  historians  said  at  a  later 
time:  "The  Athenians  are  the  only  people  who  succeed 
to  the  full  extent  of  their  hope,  because  they  throw  them- 
selves without  reserve  into  whatever  they  resolve  to  do.''* 
Every  educated  Greek  felt  that  he  was  a  useful  and  neces- 
sary part  of  the  state. 

When  the  Athenian  boys  became  eighteen  years  of  age 
they  took  the  following  oath: 

"We  will  never  bring  disgrace  to  this,  our  City,  by  any 
act  of  dishonesty  or  cowardice,  nor  ever  desert  our  suffering 
comrades  in  the  ranks.  We  will  fight  for  the  ideals  and 
sacred  things  of  the  City,  both  alone  and  with  many; 
we  will  revere  and  obey  the  City's  laws  and  do  our  best 
to  incite  a  like  respect  and  reverence  in  those  above  us 
who  are  prone  to  annul  or  to  set  them  at  naught;  we  will 
strive  unceasingly  to  quicken  the  public's  sense  of  civic 
duty.  Thus  in  all  these  ways  we  will  transmit  this  City 
not  only  not  less  but  greater,  better  and  more  beautiful 
than  it  was  transmitted  to  us." 

This  oath  of  citizenship,  taken  by  the  young  men  of 


30  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Athens,  cannot  be  repeated  too  often  and  should  be  known 
by  heart  by  every  American  citizen  of  to-day. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare  Greece  with  Egypt  as  to  industries  and  character  of  people. 
Compare  Greece  with  Chaldea. 

2.  Why  did  you  want  the  Greeks  to  win  hi  the  struggle  with  Persia? 

3.  How  do  you  account  for  the  success  of  the  Greeks? 

4.  What  does  the  map  in  this  chapter  show  you? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Acropolis.     d-kr6p'6-lfo  Phidippides.     fi-dlp'I-dez 

Athens,     ath'enz  Platea.     pld-te'd 

Athos.     ath'6s  Salamis.     sal'd-mls 

Attica.     at'I-kd  Sparta,     spar'td 

Leonidas.     16-Sn'l-dds  Themistocles.     th£-mfe't6-klez 

Marathon.     mar'd-th6n  Thermopylae.     ther-m6p'I-le 

Miltiades.     mll-tl'd-dez  Xerxes,     zurk'zez 
Pentelicus.    pen-tel'I-kiis 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    GREEKS   AS    WRITERS 

The  Greeks  won  many  laurels  on  the  battle-field,  but 
they  won  still  greater  victories  in  the  field  of  literature. 
There  are  some  immortal  names  in  the  list  of  Greek  writers. 
Homer's  is  one  of  these.  He  made  poems  about  the  siege 
of  Troy.  Do  you  remember  the  story?  The  son  of 
Priam,  king  of  Troy,  came  to  Greece,  once  upon  a  time, 
and  carried  away  Helen,  the  wife  of  Menelaus,  king  of 
Sparta.  Helen  was  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  all 
Greece  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  her  people.  The 
Greeks,  therefore,  looked  upon  this  act  as  a  national  insult 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS 


HOMER 


32  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

and  gathered  together  from  all  quarters  to  recover  Helen 
and  to  punish  the  Trojans.  They  were  a  famous  body  of 
men.  Agamemnon,  "the  king  of  men,"  and  brother  of 
Menelaus,  was  in  supreme  command.  The  terrible 
Achilles,  the  most  powerful  single-handed  fighter  among 
the  Greeks,  was  also  there,  and  so  was  Odysseus,  the 
most  cunning,  shrewd,  and  crafty  of  them  all.  They 
assaulted  the  walls  of  Troy  for  ten  years  without  avail, 
and  finally  captured  the  city  by  means  of  the  famous 
stratagem  of  the  "wooden  horse." 

Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  The  poems  of  Homer  are 
the  "Iliad"  and  the  "Odyssey."  The  Iliad  tells  the  story 
of  the  last  part  of  the  ten  years'  siege  of  Troy  and  portrays 
the  terrible  wrath  of  Achilles  against  his  chief,  Agamemnon. 
The  Odyssey  tells  of  the  wanderings  and  adventures  of 
Odysseus,  or  Ulysses,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  while  on 
his  way  back  from  Troy  to  his  home  in  the  island  of 
Ithaca.  He  had  many  mishaps.  On  one  occasion,  he  and 
his  men  were  driven  by  a  storm  upon  a  land  where  the 
Cyclops  dwelt.  These  Cyclops  were  a  race  of  savage 
giants  with  one  eye  in  the  center  of  the  forehead.  Their 
king  was  the  terrible  man-eating  Polyphemus.  When  he 
discovered  the  ship-wrecked  strangers  within  his  domain, 
he  took  them  home  with  him  to  his  cave  in  the  hillside. 
In  this  cave  he  also  kept  his  sheep.  Polyphemus  was  a 
cannibal  and  immediately  set  about  devouring  the  com- 
rades of  Odysseus.  After  he  had  made  away  with  six  of 
them,  Odysseus  gave  him  what  wine  he  had  left  in  his 
sacks  and  made  him  drunk.  He  then  destroyed  the  single 
eye  of  the  giant,  making  him  totally  blind.  Odysseus  and 
his  companions  then  tried  to  ride  out  of  the  cave  on  the 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS 


33 


ULYSSES  AND  POLYPHEMUS 


backs  of  the  sheep,  but  Polyphemus  discovered  their  trick 
by  feeling  along  the  sheep's  backs  as  they  went  out  and 
threw  the  men  into  the  cave  with   a   thud.     Later  they 
swung    themselves   under 
the   huge    bodies    of    the 
sheep  and  thus  rode  out 
of   the    cave    to    safety. 
After     getting     into    the 
open  air,  they  lost  no  time 
in  putting  out  to  sea.    As 
they   pushed   away   from 
the  shore,  however,  they 
could  not  resist  the  temp- 
tation of  hurling  back  a  derisive  shout  to  old  Polyphemus, 
who  stood   disconsolate  some  little  distance   away.     The 
great  giant  was  so  angered  by  this  that  he  snatched  off 
the  top  of  a  nearby  mountain  and  hurled  it  with  tremen- 
dous force  in  the  direction  from  which  the  voices  came;  but 
he  threw  too  far.     The  huge  mass  went  over  the  boat  and 
struck  in  the  sea   on   the   other  side.     The  Greeks  were 
awed  into  silence  and  the  waves  from  the  great  mass  of 
earth  and  stone  slowly  washed  them  back  to  the  shore  — 
almost  to  the  very  feet  of  blind  Polyphemus.     Needless  to 
say  Odysseus  and  his  brave  men  now  kept  very  quiet  until 
Polyphemus  had  wandered  off  to  care  for  his  sheep. 

While  the  " Iliad'7  is  a  story  of  war,  the  " Odyssey"  is 
a  story  of  peace,  or  rather  of  adventure.  Homer  appar- 
ently gets  his  hero  into  trouble  in  order  that  he  may  show 
his  craft  and  cunning  in  getting  out.  And  so  it  goes, 
year  after  year.  Finally,  after  twenty,  years  of  wandering, 
Odysseus  reaches  his  home  in  the  disguise  of  a  beggar. 


34 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


« 

Many  old  friends  fail  to  recognize  him  but  his  faithful  dog, 
Argus,  recognizes  his  master  instantly  and  dies  after  giving 
him  a  most  cordial  welcome  home.  His  wife,  Penelope, 
was  also  there  to  greet  hihi.  She  had  remained  faithful  to 


HOMER  CHANTING  His  POEMK 

The  traveling  bard  or  minstrel  sat  down  by  the  wayside  or  on  the  street  corner 
and  recited  his  odes  to  the  tune  of  a  lyre.  People  gathered,  listened  for  a  time 
and  then  went  on  their  way. 

him  during  all  these  years,  although  besieged  by  more 
than  one  hundred  suitors  who  told  her  that  the  Greeks 
who  had  gone  to  Troy  were  all  dead  many  years  ago. 

Although  these  poems  were  composed  a  thousand  years 
before  the  Christian  Era,  they  are  considered  by  many  to 
be  the  finest  poems  ever  written.  They  were  not  put  into 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS  35 

writing  for  many  hundreds  of  years  after  their  composition. 
In  fact,  at  the  time  of  Homer,  the  art  of  writing  was  not 
known  to  the  Greeks.  Homer  was  probably  one  of  the 
traveling  bards  or  minstrels  of  the  time,  who  went  about 
reciting  poetry  at  festivals  and  meetings  of  various  kinds. 
In  this  way  the  poems  were  handed  down  for  several 
centuries  by  word  of  mouth.  After  being  reduced  to 
writing,  they  were  read  by  the  fireside  and  studied  in  the 
schools.  The  Greeks  often  called  Homer  "the  poet"  on 
account  of  the  great  esteem  in  which  they  held  him. 

Sophocles.  The  Greeks  had  another  kind  of  poetry, 
known  as  the  dramatic.  This  was  intended  to  be  acted 
upon  the  stage.  The  greatest  of  the  dramatic  poets  was 
Sophocles,  who  was  born  near  Athens  about  495  B.C.  He 
lived  to  be  ninety  years  old  and  wrote  more  than  one 
hundred  plays.  He  was  always  fond  of  his  native  town 
and  speaks  of  it  in  one  of  his  plays  as  the  place  "where  the 
nightingale  haunts  the  green  glades,  where  narcissus  and 
golden  crocus  bloom,  where  the  springs  of  clear  water 
never  fail."  To  the  Athenians  he  seemed,  "a  man  loved 
by  the  gods,"  and  he  was  worshiped  by  them  as  a  hero 
after  his  death. 

The  production  of  a  great  play  in  the  city  of  Athens 
must  have  been  a  very  beautiful  and  inspiring  spectacle. 
The  theater  was  semi-circular  in  shape  with  seats  cut  into 
the  solid  rock  of  the  hillside.  It  was  open  to  the  sky  and 
had  no  scenery  aside  from  the  rugged  mountains  and  the 
blue  sea.  In  this  vast  arena,  thirty  thousand  people  often 
sat  from  morning  until  night,  listening  to  the  sublime  lines 
of  the  old  Greek  tragedies,  and  often  moved  to  tears. 
Pericles,  one  of  the  wisest  rulers  of  Athens,  gave  the  people 


36 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


free  admission  to  the  theater,  because  he  looked  upon  it 
as  a  means  of  education,  rather  than  of  entertainment. 

In  the  United  States  we  have  several  theaters  built  upon 
the  Greek  plan  though  not  quite  so  large.     There  is  one  at 


THE  THEATER  OF  DIONYSUS  AT  ATHENS 

The  famous  theater  is  here  represented  in  its  best  days  with  the  audience  upon 
the  benches  and  the  actors  on  the  stage.  The  mountains  are  plainly  visible 
in  the  distance  through  the  clear,  pure  air. 

the  University  of  California,  another  at  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  There  are  also  others. 

Prose  Writers:  Herodotus.  Let  us  now  turn  for  a 
moment  to  the  prose  writers.  The  first  great  writer  of 
Greek  prose  was  Herodotus,  known  as  "the  father  of  his- 
tory." He  was  a  Greek  of  Asia  Minor,  born  in  484  B.C. 
which  was  nearly  two  thousand  years  before  America, 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS  37 

or  the  "New  Part"  of  the  world,  was  discovered.  He  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  the  dramatic  poet,  Sophocles.  His 
main  work  is  a  history  of  the  Persian  Wars.  From  this 
history  we  gather  almost  all  that  we  know  about  these 


Copyright  by  Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

GREEK  THEATER  AT  UNIVERSITY  OP  CALIFORNIA 

Students  of  the  University  of  California  sit  in  this  theater,  as  the  Athenians 
did  in  ancient  times,  and  enjoy  plays  of  various  kinds.  The  uniform  climate 
makes  this  possible. 

great  conflicts.  Before  writing  his  history,  he  traveled 
over  almost  the  entire  civilized  world,  from  Babylon  to 
Italy.  His  book  is  a  book  of  travel,  almost  as  much  as 
of  history.  It  abounds  in  anecdotes  and  stories  about 
people  and  places  and  is  intensely  interesting  reading. 


38  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Thucydides.  The  greatest  Greek  historian,  however, 
was  Thucydides,  born  about  471  B.C.  His  work  is  not  so 
gossipy  and  entertaining  as  that  of  Herodotus  but  it  is 
vastly  more  reliable  and  accurate.  He  tells  the  story  of 
the  great  war  between  Sparta  and  Athens,  usually  called 
the  Peloponnesian  War,  which  began  in  431  and  lasted  for 
twenty-seven  years.  He  gives  us  a  notable  description 
of  the  plague  or  "  Black  Death,"  which  broke  out  in 
Athens  after  the  people  from  the  country  had  crowded 
within  the  walls  of  the  city.  Another  part  of  his  history 
is  the  "  Funeral  Oration,"  a  sort  of  Memorial  Day  address 
delivered  by  Pericles  in  honor  of  those  who  fell  during  the 
first  year  of  the  war. 

Thucydides  was  a  patriotic  and  public-spirited  Athe- 
nian, but  he  was  rather  harshly  treated  by  his  fellow 
citizens.  In  the  early  part  of  the  war,  while  he  was  in 
command  of  the  fleets,  a  city  was  taken  which  it  was 
thought  he  should  have  protected.  He  was  charged  with 
using  the  fleet  to  protect  his  own  gold  mines  instead  of 
the  city  which  fell.  It  now  appears  that  he  was  innocent 
of  the  charge,  yet  he  was  removed  from  his  command. 
We  are  not  certain  that  he  was  banished  from  Athens,  yet 
he  may  have  been.  It  is  certain  that  he  was  absent  from 
his  native  city  for  twenty  years  after  this  event  and  that 
during  this  time  he  was  traveling  and  studying  prepara- 
tory to  writing  his  great  history.  He  was  proud  of  his 
book  when  finished  and  said:  "-My  history  has  been 
composed,  not  as  the  exploit  of  an  hour,  but  as  a  posses- 
sion of  all  time."  He  was  right.  His  history  was  never 
more  valuable  than  it  is  to-day.  Many  modern  historians 
think  it  a  model  of  its  kind  in  many  respects. 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS  39 

Demosthenes.  "  Among  no  other  people  has  public 
speaking  been  so  important  and  so  effective."  There  were 
two  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place,  a  man  who  wished 
to  enter  public  life  was  obliged  to  be  a  public  speaker. 
Athens  was  governed  by  the  great  assembly  which  con- 
sisted of  all  male  citizens  over  eighteen  years  of  age.  The 
men  who  addressed  the  assembly  stood  upon  a  high  rock 
or  throne,  and  thousands  listened  to  them.  On  the  hill- 
sides of  rainless  Greece  the  air  is  so  rare  that  the  human 
voice  carries  easily  for  even  more  than  a  half  mile,  making 
it  possible  to  address  thousands  of  people  through  the  ear 
as  we  now  address  them  by  our  newspapers  through  the 
eye.  The  orator  had  far  more  influence  in  Greece  than  he 
has  in  such  modern  countries  as  England  and  the  United 
States.  Man  of  the  present  day  is  influenced  by  what 
he  reads,  probably  more  than  by  what  he  hears. 

In  the  second  place,  a  man  in  a  lawsuit  in  Athens  was 
compelled  to  plead  his  own  case.  He  had  to  speak  for 
himself.  He  could  not  hire  a  lawyer  to  do  the  talking  for 
him,  as  we  do.  He  could,  however,  hire  the  lawyer  to 
write  a  speech  for  him  to  be  delivered  by  himself.  This 
was  often  done,  so  that,  taking  it  all  in  all,  the  gift  of 
public  speaking  was  more  valuable  in  Greece  than  in  any 
other  country  before  or  since. 

Greece  had  many  fine  orators,  but  Demosthenes  was  by 
far  the  greatest  of  them  all.  He  was  also  the  "  greatest 
master  of  Greek  prose,"  and  some  think  him  the  greatest 
orator  the  world  has  ever  produced.  When  a  boy,  he 
seemed  to  have  none  of  the  qualifications  of  the  orator  or 
statesman.  He  was  shy  and  retiring  in  disposition,  his 
voice  was  weak,  and  his  body  frail  and  awkward.  When 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


he  was  quite  young,  his  father,  a  wealthy  manufacturer, 
died  and  left  a  large  amount  of  property,  which  was 
promptly  stolen  by  the  guardian  of  the  young  Demos- 
thenes. 

The  boy  determined  then  and  there  to  study  oratory  in 
order  to  be  able  to  bring  the  thief  to  justice.  This  he  did 
with  marked  success,  but  he  had  a  very  hard  time  in 
becoming  a  good  public  speaker.  He  worked  industriously. 
He  put  pebbles  in  his  mouth  in  order  to  increase  the 
distinctness  of  his  speech  and  he  practiced  before  the 

roaring  waves  of  the  sea.  In 
order  to  improve  his  style  he 
wrote  out  the  history  of  Thu- 
cydides  eight  tunes;  and  yet 
notwithstanding  all  of  this,  he 
met  defeat  after  defeat.  The 
Athenian  audiences  were  accus- 
tomed to  good  speaking  and 
were  very  critical,  so  they 
howled  him  down  and  he 
went  away  in  sorrow  to  mope 
by  the  seashore.  But  he  re- 
turned later  and  moved  that 
same  audience  to  anger,  to 
laughter,  and  to  tears. 

Demosthenes  was  not  only  a  great  orator,  but  a  patriotic 
statesman,  as  well.  Athens  had  a  free  government  —  a 
government  by  the  people  —  and  Demosthenes  saw  that 
Philip,  the  king  of  Macedonia,  was  attempting  to  bring 
all  Greece  under  his  despotic  sway.  He  then  became  the 
champion  of  Greek  freedom,  just  as  Patrick  Henry  and 


DEMOSTHENES  AT  THE  SEASIDE 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS  41 

James  Otis  at  a  later  time  became  the  champions  of 
American  freedom.  He  delivered  twelve  stirring,  scathing 
and  thrilling  speeches,  known  as  the  " Philippics,"  in  which 
he  exposed  the  schemes  of  Philip  and  urged  the  Athenians 
to  take  the  lead  in  the  stand  for  Greek  independence. 
Athens,  he  said,  was  the  natural  leader  of  Greece,  but  she 
must  gain  the  confidence  of  the  Greeks  by  being  worthy 
of  it.  He  himself  took  his  place  as  a  common  soldier  in 
the  ranks  in  the  war  that  followed. 

Although  Philip  won  the  battle  and  gained  control  of  all 
Greece,  the  Athenians  were  not  unmindful  of  the  great  debt 
which  they  owed  to  Demosthenes,  and  it  was  proposed 
that  he  be  given  a  golden  wreath  of  honor  by  the  state. 
A  jealous  rival,  Aeschines,  raised  a  legal  objection  and  the 
case  came  to  trial.  Demosthenes  appeared  in  his  own 
defense.  Aeschines  had  accused  him  of  a  desire  to  become 
king  and  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  Athens.  Demosthenes 
made  reply  in  the  greatest  speech  which  he  ever  delivered 
—  possibly  the  greatest  speech  ever  delivered  by  any  one. 
It  is  called  the  " Oration  on  the  Crown,"  and  in  it  he 
reviewed  the  acts  and  motives  of  his  whole  life.  He  won 
his  case.  Aeschines  was  crushed  and  immediately  de- 
parted from  Athens. 

Demosthenes  fell  a  martyr  to  his  lost  cause.  Some  years 
after  the  death  of  Philip,  another  Macedonian,  Antipater,  put 
down  a  revolt  in  Greece  and  demanded  that  certain  Athe- 
nian leaders  who  had  opposed  his  plans  be  surrendered  into  his 
hands.  Demosthenes,  of  course,  was  one  of  these.  Rather 
than  place  himself  in  the  power  of  the  Macedonian  king, 
Demosthenes  took  his  own  life  by  poison.  "Had  but  the 
strength  of  thy  arm,  Demosthenes,  equalled  thy  spirit/' 


42  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

said  a  man  of  the  time,  "  never  would  Greece  have  sunk 
under  the  foreign  yoke." 

Aristotle.  The  Greeks  had  still  another  kind  of  prose 
literature,  called  philosophy.  The  term  philosophy  in- 
cluded all  kinds  of  prose  writing  with  the  exception  of 
history  and  oratory.  The  greatest  Greek  philosopher,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  thinkers  of  all  time,  was  Aristotle. 
He  was  born  about  384  B.C.,  not  far  from  Mount  Athos, 
where  the  Persian  fleet  was  destroyed.  His  father  was  a 
physician,  and  the  young  lad  was  sent  to  Athens  for  his 
education.  Here  he  was  placed  in  the  school  of  the 
eminent  teacher  and  philosopher,  Plato.  He  made  such 
rapid  progress  that  the  master  called  him  "the  mind  of 
the  school." 

Aristotle  was  a  cool,  calculating  thinker  and  much 
given  to  the  study  of  facts.  He  studied  almost  everything 
—  plants,  animals,  logic,  grammar,  physics,  mathematics, 
astronomy,  government,  history,  —  and  wrote  very  exten- 
sively. He  was  an  ardent  seeker  after  the  truth  and 
loved  it  for  its  own  sake.  He  used  to  say,  "  Plato  and 
truth  are  both  dear  to  me,  but  it  is  a  sacred  duty  to 
prefer  truth." 

In  his  writings  on  politics,  he  tells  us  what,  in  his 
opinion,  an  ideal  state  ought  to  be.  It  should  contain,  he 
says,  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  all  educated  by  the 
state.  Each  man  should  be  a  land-holder  of  moderate 
means  and  each  one  should  have  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment. The  free-man  should  give  his  whole  time  to  the 
government  and  military  affairs,  and  there  should  be 
slaves  to  do  all  the  ordinary  work.  He  would  prohibit 
the  taking  of  interest  for  the  use  of  money.  It  is  plain 


THE  GREEKS  AS  WRITERS  43 

that  Aristotle  had  many  admirable  features  in  his  ideal  state, 
but  some  of  them  we  should  object  to  at  the  present  time. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  influence  of  a  man  like 
Aristotle,  but  it  is  certainly  true  that  for  hundreds  of 
years  his  writings  dominated  the  thinking  world.  The 
scholars  of  the  Middle  Ages  looked  upon  him  as  an  author- 
ity and  he  has  influenced  modern  thought  more  than  any 
other  man  of  the  ancient  world.  In  his  writings,  he 
summed  up  the  best  thought  of  all  preceding  ages  and, 
adding  his  own  contributions  to  it,  he  handed  it  down  to 
later  times. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare  the  Greek  theaters  with  ours  as  to: 

a.  Plan  of  building. 

b.  Seating  capacity. 

c.  Length  of  play. 

d.  Kind  of  play  given. 

e.  Size  of  audience. 

2.  Why  is  oratory  not  so  necessary  for  leadership  now  as  it  was  in 
Demosthenes'  time?     Consider  well  in  answering  this  question,  the  means 
of  reaching  the  people  now  and  then.    The  Greek  orator  stood  upon  a 
high  platform,  under  a  clear  sky,  and  reached,  with  his  voice,  thousands  of 
people.    Have  we  a  better  way  of  reaching  the  people? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Achilles,    d-M'lez  Odysseus.     6-dfe'us 

Aeschines.     gs'kl-nez  Odyssey.     6d'I-sI 

Agamemnon,     ag-a-m8m'n&n  Peloponnesian.     pgl'6-p<5-ne'shtfn 

Aristotle.     ar'Is-t6t"l  Penelope.     p6-n61'6-pg 

Babylon.    bab'I-l5n  Pericles.     p6r'I-klez 

Cyclops.    sl'kl6ps  Plato,    pla'to 

Demosthenes.     d£-m6s'th£-nez  Polyphemus.    p6l'i-fe'm#s 

Iliad.    Il'J-tfd  Priam.    pri'S,m 

Ithaca.     Ith'ci-ka  Sophocles.     s6f'6-klez 

Macedonia,     mas'e-do'nl-d  Thucydides.     thti-sld'1-dez 

Menelaus.    men'6-la'ws  Ulysses,    u-lls'ez 


44 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE    GREEKS   AS   BUILDERS   AND    ARTISTS 

Although,  as  you  know  from  reading  the  last  chapter, 
the  books  written  by  the  Greeks  are  very  important,  the 
buildings,  statues,  and  paintings  which  they  created  are 
equally  important.  It  has  been  well  said  of  Greece  that 


THE  ACROPOLIS  IN  ITS  BEST  DAYS 

"her  true  service  to  mankind  and  her  imperishable  glory 
lie  in  her  literature,  her  philosophy  and  her  art." 

The  Acropolis.  The  center  of  Greek  art  and  architecture 
was  Athens,  and  the  center  of  Athens  was  the  Acropolis,  or 
the  large  flat-topped  rock  upon  which  the  old  city  was 


THE  GREEKS  AS  BUILDERS  AND  ARTISTS  45 

built,  so  that  it  could  be  easily  defended  from  savage 
enemies.  A  stairway  of  sixty  marble  steps  was  later  built 
leading  up  to  the  top  of  this  famous  rock.  Here  is  to  be 
found  in  ruins  the  most  beautiful  collection  of  buildings 
ever  constructed.  From  them  we  can  read  again  much  of 
the  story  of  the  Greeks. 

Greek  Architecture.  The  visitor  to  the  Acropolis  might 
see  three  different  kinds  or  orders  of  architecture,  distin- 
guished from  each  other  by  means  of  the  columns  which 
were  used.  The  Doric  column  is  short  and  stout,  without 
a  base  and  without  ornament  of  any  kind.  It  is  the 
simplest  and  strongest  of  the  three  orders.  The  Ionic 
column  is  more  slender  and  has  some  ornamentation.  It 
always  has  two  spiral  rolls  or  whorls,  as  they  are  called,  at 
the  top.  The  Corinthian  column  is  the  most  slender  and 
most  highly  ornamented  of  all.  The  capital,  or  top,  is 
made  to  represent  the  leaves  of  a  plant. 

The  Parthenon.  The  building  which  always  calls  out 
the  greatest  admiration  of  the  visitor  to  Athens  is  the 
Parthenon.  This  temple  was  probably  the  most  beautiful 
building  ever  constructed.  It  was  built  of  white  marble, 
taken  from  the  quarries  of  Mount  Pentelicus,  which  were 
owned  by  the  state.  Certain  parts  of  the  building  were 
painted  in  harmonious  colors  and  the  faces  of  the  statues 
were  sometimes  tinted  in  a  life-like  manner.  A  large  part 
of  the  pleasing  effect  of  the  building  was  due  to  the  ab- 
sence of  straight  lines.  Practically  all  of  the  lines  were 
slightly  curved.  "  There  is  not  in  the  entire  temple  a  straight 
line  of  any  considerable  length."  Although  the  curves  are 
all  so  slight  that  in  most  cases  they  cannot  be  detected  by 
the  naked  eye,  they  relieve  the  building  of  that  stiffness 


46 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


which  results  from  the  use  of  straight  lines.  The  Parthe- 
non illustrates  the  "  chief  features  of  Greek  architecture  — 
simplicity,  harmony  and  refinement,  the  union  of  strength 
and  beauty."  After  gracing  the  hill-top  for  more  than 
two  thousand  years,  the  Parthenon  was  wrecked  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  During  a  war  it  was  used  as  a  powder 
house,  and  a  shell  from  the  enemy's  gun  caused  an  explo- 


THE  PARTHENON  IN  THE  TIME  OF  PERICLES 

sion.  Parts  of  it  now  stand  simply  as  a  noble  ruin.  One 
can  easily  see,  however,  traces  of  its  former  beauty  and 
can  realize  that  "it  is  the  most  perfect  piece  of  architec- 
ture ever  created  by  human  hands." 

Phidias.  The  beautifully  sculptured  decorations  of  the 
Parthenon  made  up  a  large  part  of  its  beauty  and  it  seems 
very  fortunate  that  the  world's  greatest  sculptor  was  pres- 
ent in  Athens  to  take  charge  of  the  world's  most  artistic 
building.  Phidias,  the  greatest  sculptor  of  all  time, 


>9s;  ?  > 

T##  GREEKS  AS  BUILDERS  AJV'P  4* 


«47 


PHIDIAS  AT  WORK  ON  THE  PARTHENON 


48«  ^INTRODUCTtoN  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

planned  the  ornamentation  of  the  Parthenon  and  did  a 
part  of  the  work  with  his  own  hands.     The  most  noted 

piece  of  statuary  in  or  about 
the  building  was  the  statue  of 
Athena,  placed  on  the  inside. 
This  statue  was  thirty-four  feet 
in  height;  its  core  was  made  of 
wood,  the  visible  parts  of  the 
body  were  made  of  ivory,  the 
hair  and  draperies  of  gold,  and 
the  eyes  of  precious  stones.  It 
was  paid  for  out  of  the  booty 
taken  by  the  Athenians  at  the 
battle  of  Salamis.  Many  of  the 
pieces  of  statuary  taken  from  the 
Parthenon  after  its  destruction 
are  now  in  the  British  Museum  hi 
London. 

The  masterpiece  of  Phidias, 
however,  was  the  colossal  statue 
of  the  god  Zeus,  at  Olympia. 
This  was  of  tremendous  size  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  "Seven 
The  Greeks  considered  it  a  calamity 
"See  Zeus  and  die"  was  a  common 


STATUE  OF  THE  GODDESS 
ATHENA 

In  her  right  hand  she  holds  a 
statue  of  the  Winged  Vic- 
tory, six  feet  high,  and  her 
left  rests  on  a  shield. 


wonders  of  the  world." 
to  die  without  seeing  it. 
saying  among  them. 

Statues  of  Athletes.  Greek  sculptors  were  fond  of  carv- 
ing statues  of  athletes  and  of  representing  scenes  from 
great  athletic  contests,  like  the  Olympic  games.  The 
Greeks  were  a  well  developed  race,  renowned  for  grace  and 
manly  beauty,  and  the  sculptors  liked  to  reproduce  these 


THE  GREEKS  AS  BUILDERS  AND  ARTISTS 


traits  in  marble.     One  of  the  best  statues  of  this  kind  is 

the  Discobolus,  or  Disc-thrower  of  Myron.     The  athlete 

is  represented  in  the  act  of  summoning   all  his  strength 

to  give  the  discus   a  tremendous 

hurl.    The  muscles  are  tense,  the 

body  beautifully  poised,  and   one 

almost  expects  to   see  the  discus 

sail  through  space  for  a  distance 

of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.    We 

almost  wonder  why  he  does 

not  throw. 

Painting.    In  painting, ;  the 
Greeks   were  not   so   famous 


STATUE  OF  ZEUS 

Zeus  was  the  chief  of  the  Greek 

gods. 

as  they  were  in  sculpture, 
and  not  many  samples  of 
their  work  have  come  down 
to  us.  Some  of  the  Greek 
painters,  however,  had  repu- 
tations for  doing  wonderful 
things.  It  was  said  that 
Zeuxis  painted  a  bunch  of 
grapes  which  the  birds  tried 
to  eat,  and  that  Apelles 
painted  a  horse  which  looked 
so  lifelike  that  real  horses 
saluted  it  with  a  neigh. 


ANCIENT  GREEK  STATUE  OF  VICTORY 


50  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare  the  largest  building  you  know  with  the  Parthenon. 

2.  Do  you  know  any  modern  building  that  resembles  the  Parthenon? 
Describe  it. 

3.  Do  you  know  any  buildings  with  Ionic,  Doric,  or  Corinthian  columns? 

4.  Write  a  letter  to  an  art  company  asking  for  illustrated  catalogs.    You 
will  probably  find  therein  pictures  of  the  Frieze  of  the  Parthenon.    The 
Frieze  is  an  ornamental  band  on  the  halls  or  under  the  eaves.    What  is  the 
subject  matter  of  the  Frieze? 

6.  Why  did  the  Greek  sculptors  so  often  choose  athletes  and  athletic 
games  as  subjects?  Keep  this  question  in  mind  as  you  read  the  next 
chapter. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Apelles.     d-pSl'ez  Myron,     mi'rtfn 

Athena,     d-the'nd  Olympia.     6  llm'pl-d 

Corinthian.     k6-rm'th*-an  Parthenon.     par'th£-n6n 

Discobolus.     dfe-kSb'6-lws  Phidias.     fld'lWts 

Doric.     dSr'ttc  Zeus,     zus 

Ionic.     i-6n'Ik  Zeuxis.     zuk'sls 


CHAPTER  V 
GREEK    LIFE    AND    CHARACTER 

In  order  to  appreciate  still  more  fully  what  the  Greeks 
did  for  us,  it  will  be  necessary  to  see  how  Greek  boys  and 
men  were  educated  and  what  then-  ideals  of  life  were. 
Unfortunately,  the  position  of  woman  among  the  ancient 
Greeks  was  not  high.  This  fact  is  a  blot  upon  an  other- 
wise beautiful  civilization.  The  boys  were  very  carefully 
educated,  but  almost  no  attention  was  paid  to  the  girls. 
The  Spartan  boy  was  educated  for  the  army.  His  body 
was  well  trained,  but  his  mind  was  not.  The  Athenians 


GREEK  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  51 

had  a  better  kind  of  education.  They  gave  their  boys  a 
good  physical  and  athletic  training,  but  they  trained  their 
minds  as  well.  The  Athenian  boy  studied  reading,  writ- 
ing, arithmetic,  geometry,  drawing,  and  music.  The  writ- 
ings of  the  poet  Homer  and  of  the  lawyer,  Solon,  were 
studied,  but  foreign  languages  were  looked  upon  with  dis- 
dain. The  boy  was  also  taught  to  play  upon  the  harp 
and  flute,  and  to  sing  and  to  recite  poems.  The  Greeks 
thought  that  music  had  a  good  moral  effect  upon  the 
nature  of  the  boy,  and  they  were  probably  right. 

The  school  hours  were  very  much  longer  than  ours. 
The  schools  opened  at  sunrise  and  closed  at  sunset.  The 
teachers  did  not  seem  to  believe  in  spoiling  the  child  by 
sparing  the  rod,  as  corporal  punishment  was  inflicted  for 
very  slight  offenses.  The  teachers  also  had  their  troubles, 
you  may  be  sure.  Plato  speaks  of  some  of  his.  pupils 
as  sharp,  witty,  insubordinate,  and  unmanageable  little 
animals. 

While  there  are  many  examples  of  treachery  and  dis- 
honesty in  Greek  life,  as  there  are  in  the  life  of  every 
nation,  as  a  rule  Greek  ideals  were  high.  The  Greek  loved 
a  good  manly  contest,  had  a  taste  for  the  beautiful,  and 
was  inclined  to  be  temperate  and  moderate  in  all  things. 
He  avoided  extremes  and  exercised  a  splendid  self-control. 
Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  a  few  of  the  finest  types  of 
manhood  produced  by  the  life  and  education  of  Greece. 

Aristides  is  a  "man  whose  character  is  a  shining  light 
in  the  ancient  world."  During  the  Persian  Wars,  he  was 
banished  from  Athens  through  no  fault  of  his  own.  Some 
of  his  fellow  citizens  voted  against  him  because  they  were 
tired  of  hearing  him  called  "Aristides  the  just."  He  was 


52 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


of  a  forgiving  disposition,  however,  and  when  his  country 
needed  him  in  time  of  war,  he  returned  and  insisted  upon 
fighting  for  Greek  liberty.  He  fought  nobly  against  the 
Persians,  both  at  Salamis  and  Plataea. 

Socrates  is  one  of  the  finest  characters  of  ancient  Greece. 
"True  wisdom,"  said  Socrates,  "is  to  know  what  is  good 
and  to  do  what  is  right."  He  was  a  searcher  after  the 


READING  FROM  HOMER 

In  the  days  of  ancient  Greece  reading  from  the  poems  of  Homer  was  a  favorite 
and  useful  form  of  entertainment.  When  a  good  reader  was  reading  aloud 
from  the  writings  of  "The  Poet,"  as  Homer  was  called,  he  always  had  an 
interested  circle  of  listeners  about  him.  The  people  gathered  around  as 
eagerly  as  children  do  now-a-days  to  listen  to  Indian  stories  or  fairy  tales. 

truth  and  thought  more  deeply  into  the  affairs  of  life  than 
other  men.  He  had  a  very  high  idea  of  God  and  refused 
to  worship  the  gods  which  the  Greeks  had  made  of  stone 
and  bronze.  As  a  result,  he  was  tried  on  a  charge  of  intro- 
*  ducing  strange  gods  and  of  corrupting  the  youth  of  Athens. 
He  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  drink  the  fatal  cup  of 
hemlock,  which  he  did  with  the  utmost  composure,  while 


GREEK  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


53 


discoursing  upon  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  Athe- 
nians of  the  time  were  not  wise  enough  to  understand  his 
message. 

Pericles.  Pericles  was  a  man  of  action.  He  was  what 
we  would  call,  in  these  days,  a  man  of  initiative.  He 
could  do  things  and  get  results  without  being  told  exactly 
how  they  should  be  done.  He  was  somewhat  like  Lieu- 


THE  MENTAL  EDUCATION  OF  THE  GREEK  YOUTH 

The  young  Athenian  received  instruction  from  some  of  the  greatest  men  in 
Greece,  such  as  Plato  and  Aristotle. 

tenant  Rowan,  of  the  United  States  army,  who  carried  the 
message  from  President  McKinley  to  General  Garcia,  with- 
out being  told  where  Garcia  was.  He  did  not  know  at 
the  time,  but  he  found  out.  Pericles  was  "  first  in  war 
and  first  in  peace."  He  ruled  Athens  during  her  most 
brilliant  period,  but  he  ruled  her  because,  by  his  eloquence 
and  common  sense,  he  was  able  to  persuade  the  Athenian 
assembly  to  adopt  his  plans.  He  adorned  Athens  and  the 


54 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


Acropolis  by  erecting  beautiful  public  buildings  and  creat- 
ing fine  works  of  art.  He  also  built  fortifications  and  other 
defenses  for  the  city.  As  an  orator,  Pericles  was  spoken  of 


AGE  OF  PERICLES 

A  Greek  orator  is  standing  on  the  rostrum  and  attempting  to  persuade  the 
people  to  adopt  his  views.  At  this  tune  the  Greeks  were  not  governed  by 
a  king  but  by  a  public  assembly. 

as  the  Zeus  of  Athens,  "  rolling  fateful  thunders  from  his 
tongue."  He  died  of  the  plague  in  Athens  in  429  B.C., 
while  defending  his  native  city  against  the  attacks  of 
Sparta,  the  rival  city  in  Greece. 


GREEK  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


PERICLES 

Pericles  was  for  a  time  the  first  citizen  of  Athens.  He  beautified  the  city  with 
public  buildings,  encouraged  its  artists  and  literary  men  and  provided  for  its 
defense. 


<    }<  '•  c  <•-,•>>•»  (. 

$o  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Solon  was  a  famous  lawyer.  While  ruler  of  Athens,  he 
drew  up  a  splendid  constitution  and  body  of  laws  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  them  adopted.  He  was  the  greatest 
lawyer  among  the  Greeks.  He  made  his  laws  binding  for 
a  hundred  years  and  compelled  all  citizens  to  take  an  oath 
to  obey  them.  But,  like  many  modern  officials,  he  was 

pestered  so  much  by 
those  who  wished 
to  have  the  laws 
changed,  that  he 
went  away  on  a 
visit  of  ten  years 
to  Egypt,  in  order 
to  escape  his  tor- 
mentors. When  he 
returned,  he  saw 
his  mistake.  His 
laws  were  not  be- 
ing enforced,  as 
there  was  no  one 

in  Athens  to  enforce  them,  and  the  government  had  fallen 
into  confusion  —  almost  into  anarchy.  We,  in  the  United 
States,  sometimes  enact  good  laws  and  apparently  expect 
them  to  enforce  themselves  —  as  much  a  mistake  now  as 
in  Solon's  time. 

We  have  read  the  stories  of  several  Greeks  who  became 
great.  And  we  have  learned  that  the  Greeks  had  the  right 
to  think  for  themselves  and  to  act  as  they  thought  right. 
Each  of  these  men  was  great  because  he  lived  up  to  a  noble 
ideal.  Aristides  had  a  strong  sense  of  justice  and  fairness; 
Socrates  and  Aristotle  had  visions  of  higher  truth  which 


DIOGENES  IN  His  TUB 


GREEK  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  57 

other  men  did  not  have;  Pericles  had  a  lofty  and  prac- 
tical patriotism;  Phidias  had  a  great  religious  purpose  in 
his  work;  Solon  had  a  strong  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  Demosthenes  prized  the  liberty  of  Athens.  The  latter 
was  very  bold  in  speaking  his  sentiments.  It  was  his  prac- 
tice "to  hew  to  the  line  and  let  the  chips  fall  where  they 
would."  Now,  while  there  were  black  sheep  in  the  Greek 
flock,  there  were  very  many  of  the  other  kind  —  as  white 
as  the  marble  of  their  own  Pentelicus.  An  old  cynic  phi- 
losopher, named  Diogenes,  lived  in  a  tub  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  going  about  the  streets  of  Athens  at  noonday 
with  a  lantern  in  his  hand,  looking  for  an  honest  man.  Do 
you  think  there  was  anything  wrong  with  his  lantern  or 
with  his  eyes? 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Are  the  ideals  for  which  these  fine  old  Greeks  stood,  worth  holding 
out  as  ideals  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  our  day? 

2.  Pericles  was  an  advocate  of  the  "  City  beautiful."    How  could  the 
city  or  town  in  which  you  live  be  made  more  beautiful?    Would  it  be  nec- 
essary to  build  Parthenons  and  to  pay  thousands  of  dollars  to  bring  this 
about? 

3.  Which  one  of  these  old  Greeks  do  you  admire  most?    Why? 

4.  Name  four  famous  Greeks  and  write  a  one-word  picture  of  each. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Aristides.     ar'Is-tl'dez  Socrates.    s6k'rd-tez 

Diogenes.     di-6j'6-nez  Solon.    So'ltfn 

Garcia,     gar-se'a 


58  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  VI 
SPREAD    OF    GREEK    CIVILIZATION 

''With  Alexander,  the  stage  of  Greek  influence  spreads  across  the 
world"  —  MAHAFFY. 

We  should  now  fix  it  firmly  in  our  minds  that  Greek 
civilization  and  Greek  learning  were  not  confined  to  that 
small  country  now  called  Greece.  In  the  course  of  time 
Greek  culture  spread  over  the  entire  ancient  world.  Like 
thistledown  its  seeds  were  wafted  everywhere. 

Greek  Colonies.  The  spread  of  Greek  civilization  was 
brought  about,  in  part,  by  the  founding  of  colonies.  There 
were  three  reasons  why  the  Greeks  founded  colonies.  In 
the  first  place,  the  population  of  the  country  had  increased 
and  an  overflow  took  place.  There  was  a  "land  hunger " 
among  the  Greeks  and  also  a  spirit  of  adventure.  Greece 
was  a  small  country,  with  a  rugged  and  broken  surface 
and  a  soil  which  was  not  very  fertile.  In  the  second  place, 
some  of  the  Greeks  were  not  happy  under  the  oppression 
of  the  home  government  and,  like  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  they 
sought  freedom  in  other  lands.  Again,  many  of  the  col- 
onies were  due  to  the  growth  of  commerce.  After  the 
decline  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  Greeks  became  the  leading 
commercial  nation  of  the  world.  Colonies  and  commerce 
usually  go  hand  in  hand. 

These  colonies  were  free  cities,  not  under  the  control  of 
the  mother  country.  They  were  bound  to  the  mother  city 
only  by  ties  of  sentiment  and  by  a  common  religion  and 


SPREAD  OF  GREEK  CIVILIZATION  59 

language.  When  colonists  were  about  to  set  out  to  make 
homes  in  a  new  land,  they  asked  the  approval  of  the 
Delphic  Oracle,  and  also  took  with  them  the  sacred  fire 
from  the  altar  of  the  mother  city.  From  this  sacred  spark 
a  fire  was  kindled  upon  the  hearth  of  the  new  city. 

If  you  will  look  at  the  map,  you  will  see  that  the  Greeks 
founded  colonies  over  a  very  wide  area  —  from  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea  on  the  east  to  Spain  on  the  west, 
and  from  Russia  on  the  north  to  the  Sahara  Desert  on  the 
south.  In  addition  to  this,  Alexander  the  Great,  the 
famous  conqueror,  founded  Greek  cities  in  the  East  all 
over  the  old  Persian  Empire  and  even  beyond  its  bound- 
aries. 

Many  of  these  colonies  later  became  great  cities,  but 
the  important  fact  about  the  whole  matter  is  this,  wherever 
a  Greek  colony  was  established,  it  became  a  center  of 
Greek  civilization.  "It  bore  the  blossoms  and  fruit  of 
Greek  culture."  The  people  spoke  the  Greek  language, 
sang  the  Greek  songs,  worshiped  the  Greek  gods,  and 
lived  the  Greek  life  of  freedom. 

Alexander  the  Great  did  more  than  any  other  one  man 
to  spread  the  civilization  of  Greece.  He  is  an  interesting 
and  in  most  ways  an  attractive  figure  in  history.  He  was 
the  son  of  that  Philip,  king  of  Macedon,  against  whom 
Demosthenes  hurled  his  powerful  "Philippics."  His  mother 
was  a  semi-barbaric  princess  from  a  wild  tribe.  Alexander 
was  a  peculiar  combination.  He  had  the  strong  will  and 
the  military  ability  of  his  father,  coupled  with  the  warm 
sympathy  and  the  fiery  temper  of  his  mother.  From  his 
ceacher,  the  famous  Aristotle,  he  got  his  love  of  Greek 
culture,  and  from  Homer,  his  favorite  author,  he  obtained 


60  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

his  love  of  heroic  warfare.  He  knew  the  " Iliad"  by  heart 
and  looked  upon  Achilles  as  his  ideal  warrior. 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  conquered  and  tamed  the  fiery 
steed,  Bucephalus;  at  eighteen,  he  led  his  father's  troops 
in  battle;  and  at  twenty,  he  succeeded  his  father  on  the 
throne.  At  this  time,  he  was  a  strong,  vigorous,  hand- 
some, and  well-educated  young  man.  He  was  also  a  very 
likable  person. 

During  his  father's  campaigns,  it  is  said  that  Alexander 
frequently  murmured  because  he  feared  there  would  be 
no  worlds  for  him  to  conquer.  Now  at  his  father's  death 
(336  B.C.)  his  great  opportunity  came  and  he  determined 
to  punish  the  East  for  the  injuries  and  insults  of  the 
Persian  Wars.  Before  starting  out,  it  was  necessary  to 
set  things  in  order  in  Greece,  where  certain  cities  had  re- 
volted against  his  rule.  Thebes  was  one  of  these,  and  to 
show  that  he  meant  business  and  would  not  be  trifled  with, 
he  destroyed  every  house  in  the  city,  except  that  of  the 
poet  Pindar,  and  sold  the  inhabitants  into  slavery. 

He  then  started  out  upon  his  eastern  conquest  —  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  expeditions  in  the  world's  history. 
He  halted  at  the  plains  of  Troy  to  do  homage  at  the 
grave  of  Achilles,  his  ideal  warrior.  He  then  passed  on  to 
Gordium,  where  he  cut  the  "Gordian  Knot."  Passing 
through  Tarsus,  which  centuries  later  was  the  home  of  the 
Apostle  Paul,  he  came  to  Tyre,  the  famous  city  of  Phoe- 
nicia, and  demanded  its  surrender.  The  Tyrians  refused 
his  demand  and  for  seven  months  held  out  nobly.  Tyre 
was  situated  on  an  island  about  a  half-mile  from  the  main- 
land, and  Alexander  proceeded  to  build  a  wall  or  causeway, 
two  hundred  feet  wide,  from  the  mainland  out  to  the  island. 


SPREAD  OF  GREEK  CIVILIZATION   ^l*}  ?>?  ;     61 


ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT 

The  young  and  handsome  conqueror  of  the  East  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
world's  greatest  military  geniuses.  While  not  an  admirable  man  in  every 
respect  he  did  much  to  spread  Greek  civilization. 


62  'INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

He  proceeded  vigorously.     He  drove  piles  and  dumped  in 
stones,  dirt,  logs,  and  trees  to  fill  up  the  space.    While 


DEFEAT  OP  DARIUS  BY  ALEXANDER 

It  was  Alexander's  ambition  to  conquer  the  world  and  as  the  Persian  Empire 
was  still  the  chief  power  in  Asia,  it  was  this  empire  that  he  set  out  to  conquer. 
A  third  Darius  was  now  ruling  in  Persia.  Although  Darius  had  twenty  times 
as  many  men  as  Alexander  had,  Alexander  defeated  him  in  three  great  battles. 
After  the  third  battle  Darius  was  killed  by  some  of  his  own  men  as  he  was 
trying  to  escape. 

doing  this,  the  Tyrians  harassed  the  Greeks  in  every  pos- 
sible way.  They  hurled  missiles  of  various  kinds  at  them 
and  pulled  the  trees  and  logs  out  of  their  places  in  the 


SPREAD  OF  GREEK  CIVILIZATION 


63 


wall.     The  Greeks  then  hung  up  hides  of  animals  to  pro- 

tect their  workers  from  the  attacks  of  the  enemy.     They 

also  built  towers  for  their  sharpshooters,   but  these  the 

Tyrians  burned  in  a  rather  ingenious  way.     They  filled 

old    ships    with    pitch    and    other 

combustible  material  and,  setting 

them   on   fire,    pushed    them    out 

against  the  towers  and  burned  them 

down.    Tyrian  divers  also  fastened 

ropes  to  the  trees  and  logs  in  the 

wall  and  pulled  them  from   their 

places. 

Alexander,  however,  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  building  the  wall  out 
to  the  island.  Here  he  had  an- 
other fierce  fight.  A  wall  had 
been  built  all  around  the  edge  of 

the    island.      This    Alexander    pro-   A  SOLDIER^JLLEXANDER'S 
Ceeded   to    demolish    by    means    of   The  Macedonian  phalanx 

battering   rams.     But   he   had  no 


easy    task.      The  defenders  lowered   They  were  armed  with  spears. 

This  body  moved  in  a  mass 

blocks     of    Stone    to    Ward    off    the    and  nothing  could  withstand 
,  ,  »     .  T  rrn  it  on  level  ground.    It  plowed 

blows    Of    the     rams.       The     ropes   through  armies  like  a  great 

from  which  the  blocks  were  sus-  machme- 
pended  were  cut  by  scythes,  and  then  iron  cables  were 
used.  Bags  of  sea-weed  were  also  lowered  to  deaden  the 
blows  of  the  rams,  and  red-hot  metal  and  white-hot  sand 
were  hurled  against  the  Greeks  as  they  attempted  to  scale 
the  wall.  Finally,  Alexander  succeeded  in  battering  down 
the  wall,  but  right  here  he  met  another  surprise.  He 
found  that  while  he  was  breaking  the  outer  wall,  the 


64  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Tyrians  were  building  an  inner  one  to  take  its  place. 
This  one  he  battered  down  also,  and  so,  after  a  long 
siege,  entered  the  city.  The  Tyrians  retreated  to  the 
roofs  of  their  buildings  and  threw  rocks  upon  the 
heads  of  the  Greek  invaders.  But  they  were  finally 
compelled  to  submit  and  their  city,  which  they  had 
defended  so  well,  was  wiped  off  the  map,  and  the  flat- 
topped  rock  was  used  only  as  a  drying  place  for  the  nets 
of  fishermen. 

Alexandria.  From  Tyre,  Alexander  pushed  down  into 
Egypt.  The  most  notable  thing  that  he  did  there  was  to 
found  Alexandria,  which  came  to  be  the  niost  important 
commercial  and  educational  city  of  the  world.  Before  this 
time,  the  site  was  a  hiding  place  for  pirates.  At  a  later 
time,  it  became  a  city  of  five  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants and  the  center  of  the  world's  culture.  Here  was  the 
famous  Museum,  an  institution  something  like  a  modern 
college  or  university,  with  its  lecture  rooms,  art  galleries, 
botanical  gardens,  and  famous  library,  with  its  seven  hun- 
dred thousand  priceless  manuscripts.  It  became  the  haunt 
for  the  famous  scholars  of  the  world.  Eratosthenes  calcu- 
lated the  circumference  of  the  earth  to  be  twenty-eight 
thousand  miles.  Another  scientist  showed  that  the  sun  is 
the  center  of  the  solar  system  and  that  the  earth  rotates 
on  its  axis.  Euclid  wrote  his  geometry;  another  mathe- 
matician used  calculus,  and  one  of  the  scientists  almost 
proved  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  It  was  many  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  the  world  again  saw  such  remarkable 
progress  in  science  and  learning  as  that  which  received 
its  inspiration  from  Alexandria.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  the  geographers  and  scientific  men  of  Alexandria 


SPREAD  OF  GREEK  CIVILIZATION 


,   ,65 


66         .;  ;  INTRODUCTION-  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


aided  greatly  in   the  discovery  of  America.     They  made 
the  great  work  of  Columbus  possible. 

In  every  sense,  Alexandria  was  a  wonderful  city.  It 
"  seemed  fragrant  with  all  the  riches  of  Greek  thought  and 
song."  Here,  Alexander  was  buried  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-two.  His  career,  though  short,  was  wonderful.  He 
never  refused  to  fight  and  he  never  lost  a  battle.  Yet  his 
great  work  was  not  in  fighting  battles,  but  in  spreading 
Greek  civilization.  There  are  some  who  think  that  he 
did  more  for  the  world's  civilization  than  any  other  human 
being.  One  writer  says,  "No  single  personality,  excepting 
the  carpenter's  Son  of  Nazareth,  has  done  so  much  to 
make  the  world  we  live  in  what  it  is  as  Alexander  of 
Macedon." 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare   the    methods    employed   by  Alexander  in   the   siege   and 
capture  of  Tyre  with  the  methods  used  in  the  recent  European  war. 

2.  How  did  the  geographers  and   scientific   men   of  Alexandria  aid  in 
the  discovery  of  America? 

3.  Was  Alexander  justified  in  attacking  Thebes  and  Tyre? 

4.  Draw   from  memory   a   map   of  the   Greek   colonies. 
6.  Draw  from  memory  a  map  of  Alexander's  March. 

6.  Why  did  people  like  Alexander? 

7.  What  were  some  of  the  civilizing  influences  that  Alexander  extended 
throughout   the   world? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Bucephalus.    bu-s6f'd-l£s  Gordium.    g6r'dl-#m 

Delphic,     del'flk  Oracle.     Sr'd-k'l 

Eratosthenes.    er'd-tSs'the-nez  Tarsus,    tar'sws 

Euclid,    u'klld  Tyre,    tir 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS  67 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    ROMANS    AS    THE    SUCCESSORS    OF    THE 

GREEKS 

Rome  conquered  Greece  but  Greece  in  turn  conquered  Rome. 
"  The  conquered  led  captive  the  conqueror."  —  ROMAN  POET. 

Greek  civilization  "was  borne  into  Asia  on  the  chariot  of  a   con- 
queror, while  it  was  brought  into  Italy  in  the  chains  of  a  captive.11 

The  Romans,  Empire  Builders.  You  will  remember 
that  the  Greeks  planted  colonies  on  all  sides  of  the  Me- 
diterranean Sea.  The  Greeks,  however,  never  took  pos- 
session of  these  countries.  They  simply  built  their 
city-colonies  but  made  no  attempt  at  conquest.  Even  the 
colonists  themselves  were  not  under  the  control  of  the 
mother  country.  The  Greeks,  aside  from  Alexander, 
seemed  to  have  no  desire  for  empire  or  for  conquest. 
The  colonies  were  as  free  as  the  mother  country.  Now, 
however,  there  arose  in  the  west  another  people  of  a  very 
different  kind.  They  were  empire  builders,  somewhat  like 
the  Persians,  and  delighted  in  taking  land  by  conquest. 
These  men  were  famous  soldiers  and  governors,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  centuries,  they  took  possession  of  all  the 
countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  These 
people  were  called  Romans,  and  one  writer  has  called  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  a  "  Roman  lake."  Let  us  see  how 
this  nation  began  and  how  the  Romans  built  up  their 
great  empire. 

The  Founding  of  Rome.  Do  you  recall  the  story  of 
Romulus  and  Remus  and  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Rome? 


68  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Romulus  and  Remus  were  twin  boys  who  were  thrown 
into  the  Tiber  River  by  a  wicked  king.  They  drifted 
ashore  and  were  rescued  and  reared  by  a  kind-hearted 
shepherd.  When  they  became  men,  the  story  says,  they 
founded  the  city  of  Rome  (753  B.C.),  near  the  spot  where 
their  rescue  took  place.  They  soon  quarreled,  Remus  was 
killed  and  Romulus  became  the  first  king  of  Rome. 

"  The  Seven  Hills  of  Rome."  According  to  tradition, 
the  first  settlement  was  on  the  Palatine  Hill.  Soon,  how- 
ever, with  an  increase  in  population,  the  city  spread  to 
the  other  hills,  six  in  number,  and  Rome  became  "the 
mistress  of  the  seven  hills."  At  first,  the  Romans  could 
not  occupy  the  valleys  between  the  hills  because  they 
were  wet  and  swampy,  but  later  they  were  drained  and 
made  habitable  by  means  of  immense  stone  sewers.  The 
new  city  was  easily  defended  from  its  enemies  and  was 
favorably  situated  for  the  purpose  of  trade.  It  was  near 
the  Tiber  River  and,  being  eighteen  miles  from  the  sea, 
was  not  in  easy  reach  of  pirates.  Rome,  because  of  her 
position,  soon  grew  strong  enough  to  extend  her  con- 
quering sway  over  Italy  and,  later,  over  the  entire 
Mediterranean  world. 

Rome's  Brave  Defenders.  .  The  spirit  of  Rome's  war- 
riors was  more  important  than  her  position  on  the  hill- 
tops. Do  you  recall  the  story  of  Horatius  at  the  bridge? 
Lars  Porsena,  an  Etruscan  king,  was  bearing  down  from 
the  north  upon  Rome  with  a  mighty  army.  The  city 
seemed  doomed,  but  did  not  despair.  Horatius  Codes, 
with  two  companions,  met  the  enemy  at  a  narrow  wooden 
bridge,  over  which  the  Etruscans  attempted  to  pass  into 
the  city.  Horatius,  deserted  by  his  two  men,  held  the 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS 


69 


bridge  until  the  Romans  tore  down  the  part  back  of  him, 
and  thus  cut  off  the  Etruscans  from  the  city.  The  enemy 
then  called  upon  him  to  surrender,  but  instead  he  threw 
himself  into  the  Tiber,  with  his  heavy  armor  on,  and  swam 
in  safety  to  the  fields  on  the  other  shore.  He  was  received 


HORATIUS   AT   THE    BRIDGE 

with  great  shouts  of  joy,  and  later  a  statue,  representing 
hun  holding  the  entire  Etruscan  army  at  bay,  was  erected 
in  his  honor. 

Cincinnatus  at  the  Plow.  To  the  north  and  east  of  the 
Romans  there  lived  a  people  called  the  Aequians.  With 
these  also  the  Romans  waged  a  war,  and,  according  to  the 
story,  were  getting  the  worst  of  it.  The  Roman  army  was 
entrapped  in  a  valley  and  about  to  be  destroyed,  when  the 


70  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

country  turned  to  a  simple  farmer  for  deliverance.  Cin- 
cinnatus  was  a  distinguished  soldier  who  had  retired  to  a 
small  farm  a  few  miles  from  Rome.  The  Senate  now  made 
him  Dictator  and  a  messenger  was  sent  to  urge  him  to 
come  to  Rome  at  once  and  raise  an  army  for  the  defense 
of  the  city.  When  the  messenger  arrived,  he  found  Cin- 
cinnatus  plowing  in  the  field.  Upon  receiving  his  mes- 
sage, the  old  soldier  left  his  oxen  standing  in  the  furrow, 
went  directly  to  Rome,  raised  an  army,  captured  the 
entire  force  of  the  Aequians,  and  sent  it  " under  the  yoke.'7 
The  yoke  consisted  of  a  spear,  supported  on  two  other 
spears,  thrust  into  the  ground.  Passing  under  the  yoke 
was  the  greatest  humiliation  that  could  befall  a  spirited 
soldier.  He  had  to  bow  low  hi  token  of  subjection. 

Cincinnatus  was  given  a  great  triumph  when  he  returned 
to  Rome.  A  procession  moved  along  the  principal  streets 
and  escorted  the  triumphal  car,  in  which  the  great  general 
rode,  clad  in  splendid  robes.  When  this  was  over,  he  laid 
aside  his  purple  garments,  resigned  his  commission  as 
Dictator,  and  went  back  to  the  simple  life  of  his  four- 
acre  farm. 

The  great  strength  of  Rome  lay  in  such  citizens  as  Cin- 
cinnatus. At  the  time  of  our  Civil  War,  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  American  citizens  left  their  plows  standing  in  the 
furrows  and  fought  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
After  the  war  was  over,  they,  like  Cincinnatus,  quietly 
returned  to  then*  former  duties.  Such  men  as  these  make 
a  nation  great. 

The  Romans  knew  no  such  word  as  "fail"  and  by 
275  B.C.,  or  about  fifty  years  after  Alexander's  death,  they 
had  possession  of  all  of  Italy  from  the  Rubicon  to  Sicily. 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS 


71 


The  Wars  with  Carthage.  Could  the  Romans  remain 
contented  in  Italy?  By  no  means.  While  Rome  was 
growing  strong  in  Italy,  another  great  power  was  spring- 
ing up  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  opposite  Sicily.  By  the  time 
that  Rome  had  obtained  possession  of  the  Italian  penin- 


ROMAN  SOLDIERS 
These  men  conquered  the  world  for  Rome. 

sula,  Carthage  had  secured  two  thousand  miles  of  sea- 
coast  in  north  Africa.  The  Mediterranean  world  was  too 
small  for  both  of  them  and  Cato,  a  Roman  leader  of  this 
time,  concluded  every  one  of  his  speeches  with  the  words, 
"Carthage  must  be  destroyed."  Carthage  was  finally  de- 
stroyed by  Rome,  but  not  without  a  mighty  struggle. 


72  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Hannibal.  The  Romans  waged  three  wars  with  the 
Carthaginians  and  the  greatest  hero  of  these  wars  on  the 
Carthaginian  side  was  Hannibal.  Hannibal  came  from  a 
fighting  family  and  one  that  hated  the  very  name  of 
Rome.  When  but  a  boy  of  nine,  his  father  took  him 


THE  BOY  HANNIBAL  SWEARING  ENMITY  TO  ROME 

before  the  altar  of  one  of  their  gods  and  asked  him  to 
take  an  oath  of  everlasting  hostility  to  the  Romans.  This 
he  did  and  how  well  he  lived  up  to  his  oath  we  shall 
soon  see. 

Hannibal  was  a  truly  wonderful  man  and  one  of  the 
most  skillful  military  leaders  of  all  time.  He  combined 
courage  with  prudence.  His  body  apparently  never  be- 
came tired  and  his  mind  was  always  alert.  He  could 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS 


73 


74  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

endure  extremes  of  hunger  and  cold  when  necessary.  He 
ate  and  drank  in  moderation  and  often  worked  both  day 
and  night,  sleeping  only  when  there  was  nothing  else  to 
be  done.  He  would  wrap  himself  up  in  his  cloak  and  lie 
down  on  the  ground,  wherever  he  happened  to  be,  and 
sleep  in  the  midst  of  the  sentinels  of  the  army.  He 
dressed  as  a  plain  officer,  but  carried  splendid  weapons 
and  always  rode  the  best  of  horses. 

Hannibal  Crosses  the  Alps.  Hannibal  conceived  a  bold 
idea.  He  resolved  to  beard  the  Roman  lion  in  his 
den,  or,  in  other  words,  to  carry  the  war  to  the  very 
gates  of  Rome.  So  he  took  his  army,  went  into  Spain, 
crossed  the  Pyrenees  Mountains  and  the  Rhone  River, 
and  began  to  climb  the  Alps.  This  was  a  very  difficult 
task.  The  way  was  steep,  narrow,  and  icy  and  beset 
with  all  sorts  of  obstacles.  The  natives  watched  his  prog- 
ress and  rolled  huge  bowlders  down  the  mountain  sides 
upon  his  train  of  pack  animals.  In  this  way  he  lost  a 
large  part  of  his  provisions.  His  elephants,  too,  were  not 
on  their  good  behavior,  and  caused  him  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  But  he  finally  came  to  the  summit  and  looked 
down  upon  Italy.  He  probably  had  his  oath  in  mind  when 
he  said  to  his  men,  "Yonder  in  the  distance  lies  Rome." 
He  reached  the  top  of  the  mountains,  but  he  had  paid  the 
penalty.  He  started  with  sixty  thousand  men.  He  now 
had  less  than  one  half  of  that  number,  and  these  were 
hungry  and  worn  out  and  their  horses  were  tired  and 
lame. 

Hannibal's  strong  heart,  however,  never  faltered.  There 
was  no  Roman  commander  who  was  anything  like  a  match 
for  him  and  he  out-generaled  the  enemy  on  every  hand. 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS 


75 


At  Lake  Trasimenus,  near  Rome,  he  set  a  trap  for  the 
enemy.  He  took  an  unusual  route  across  the  marshes, 
wading  for  four  days  and  three  nights  through  mud 
and  mire.  He  then  threw  himself  upon  the  surprised 


HANNIBAL  CROSSING  THE  ALPS 

Romans,  killed  the  commander,  and  destroyed  their  entire 
army.  After  the  battle,  his  men  talked  of  dining  in  the 
city  of  Rome  within  a  few  days. 

The  Battle  of  Cannae  (216  B.C.).     He  then  pushed  on  to 
Cannae  in  southeast  Italy  where  he  fought  his  greatest 


76  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

battle.  The  Romans,  now  thoroughly  frightened,  had 
raised  an  army  of  eighty-six  thousand  men  —  the  largest 
Roman  army  ever  put  into  the  field  up  to  this  time. 
Now  Hannibal  had  only  fifty  thousand  men,  but  as  one 
writer  remarks,  "  Hannibal's  brains  were  worth  forty 
thousand  Roman  soldiers."  It  seemed  so.  Hannibal 
planned  the  battle,  and  the  Romans  seemed  to  fall  right 
in  with  his  plans.  He  not  only  defeated  the  Roman  army, 
but  he  crushed  it  utterly.  It  is  said  that  seventy  thousand 
Romans  were  slain  at  Cannae  and  that  every  house  in 
Rome  was  in  mourning.  Hannibal  sent  to  Carthage  a 
peck  of  gold  rings,  taken  from  the  fingers  of  Roman 
knights  who  fell  in  the  slaughter. 

The  Roman  Spirit.  The  Carthaginians  won  other  vic- 
tories under  the  splendid  leadership  of  Hannibal,  but  were 
the  Romans  defeated?  By  no  means.  They  hung  on  and 
triumphed  in  the  end.  The  Roman  generals  were  not  so 
able  as  the  Carthaginian,  but  the  Roman  citizens  were 
reliable  and  steadfast.  They  endured  to  the  end  and 
finally  triumphed. 

The  Destruction  of  Carthage  (146  B.C.).  The  Cartha- 
ginians were  finally  worn  out  and  Hannibal  went  back  to 
Carthage,  after  maintaining  an  army  in  a  foreign  country 
for  sixteen  years.  The  Romans  pressed  after  him  and 
"  carried  the  war  into  Africa."  They  finally  took  Carthage 
in  146  B.C.  They  massacred  the  inhabitants,  pillaged  and 
burned  the  city,  and  cursed  the  very  land  upon  which 
it  stood.  This  was  the  sad  ending  of  a  proud  city. 

Greece  Made  a  Roman  Province.  The  wars  with 
Carthage  furnish  a  good  example  of  the  way  in  which  the 
Romans  conquered  the  Mediterranean  lands.  Greece  be- 


ROMANS  AS  SUCCESSORS  OF  GREEKS  77 

came  a  Roman  province  in  the  same  year  in  which  Car- 
thage was  destroyed.  The  fall  of  Corinth  in  Greece  was 
the  final  event  of  that  war.  When  the  city  was  captured 
the  Roman  Consul  caused  most  of  the  men  to  be  put  to 
death.  The  rest  of  the  people  became  slaves.  After  pil- 
laging the  city,  the  Consul  burned  it.  He  then  sent 
several  ship-loads  of  statues  and  paintings  to  Rome. 
Many  of  these  works  of  art  were  made  by  the  great  sculp- 
tors and  painters  of  Greece.  When  the  ships  were  setting 
out  for  Rome,  Mummius,  the  Roman  commander,  warned 
the  sailors  that  if  they  destroyed  or  injured  any  of  the 
works  of  art  on  the  voyage,  "they  must  replace  them 
with  others  of  equal  value."  Would  it  be  an  easy 
task  to  replace  a  statue  by  Phidias,  or  a  painting  by 
Apelles? 

And  so  the  Roman  army  stalked  along  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Nothing  could  stop  the 
Roman  soldier.  He  might  be  defeated  at  times,  but  he 
hung  on  with  bull-dog  grip  and  usually  triumphed  in  the 
end. 

The  Building  of  a  Fleet.  The  great  energy  and  re- 
sourcefulness of  the  Romans  are  well  illustrated  by  an 
event  in  the  wars  with  Carthage.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  war,  the  Romans  had  no  fleet  worthy  of  the  name  and 
they  saw  at  once  that  they  must  have  war-ships,  if  they 
expected  to  make  any  headway  against  "the  sons  of  the 
Phoenicians."  So  they  took  as  a  model  a  Carthaginian 
ship  which  had  been  wrecked  upon  the  Italian  shore,  and 
in  sixty  days  they  made  one  hundred  just  like  it.  Fur- 
thermore, they  fitted  out  their  ships  with  drawbridges 
which  could  be  thrown  over  the  decks  of  the  enemies' 


78 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


vessels  and  spiked  down,  thus  lashing  the  two  vessels 
together.  They  believed  that,  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight, 
they  could  defeat  any  other  soldiers  in  the  world.  They 
proved  themselves  equal  to  the  task. 

It  is  now  easy  to  see  that  Rome  was  made  great  not 
by  her  seven  hills  or  by  the  Tiber  River,  not  by  the  vast 
extent  of  territory  over  which  she  held  sway,  nor  the  many 

tribes  and  nations 
which  she  ruled,  but 
by  the  splendid  valor 
and  the  patriotic 
spirit  of  her  citizens. 
She  conquered  many 
tribes,  absorbing 
their  strength;  she 
gathered  military 
skill  from  contact 
with  the  Carthagin- 
A  ROMAN  SHIP  ian;  she  grew  rich 

Vessels  like  this  carried  the  commerce  and  the  from  the  granaries 
soldiers  of  Rome  to  all  parts  of  the  known  world.  f  A  -  .  , 

of  Africa;  she  ab- 
sorbed the  freedom,  grace,  and  scholarship  of  the 
Greeks,  and  welded  all  of  these  into  a  splendid  valor 
and  a  patriotic  citizenship.  It  meant  something  to  be 
a  Roman  citizen.  "To  be  a  Roman  was  greater  than  to 
be  a  king." 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  You  have  already  seen  how  Greek  civilization  "  was  brought  into 
Asia  on  the  chariot  of  a  conqueror."  Watch  carefully  in  this  and  suc- 
ceeding chapters  to  see  how  it  "was  brought  into  Italy  in  the  chains  of  a 
captive." 


THE  ROMANS  CONQUER   THE  WEST  79 

2.  Compare  Hannibal's  attack  on  Rome  with  Alexander's  siege  of  Tyre. 
Which  expedition  do  you  think  was  more  difficult? 

3.  What  is  patriotism?     Can  we  love  our  country  without  hating  others? 

4.  Did  you  notice  anything  about  the  rise  of  the  Greeks  that  was  like 
the  rise  of  the  Romans? 

6.  What  are  the  important  names  and  places  in  this  chapter  and  why? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Aequians.    e-kwl'ans  Mummius.    mum'I-ws 

Cannae,    kan'e  Palatine.    pal'd-tin 

Carthage,     kar'thaj  Punic,     pu'nlk 

Cato.    ka'to  Pyrenees,     pfr'g-nez 

Cincinnatus.     sln'sl-na'tws  Remus.     re'm#s 

Corinth.     kSr'Inth  Rhone,     ron 

Etruscan.     &-trtis'kan  Romulus.     r8m'u-lws 

Hannibal.     han'I-bal  Sicily.     sfe'I-li 

Horatius  Codes.  h6-ra'shl-#s  ko'klez    Tiber,     tl'ber 

Lars  Porsena.    lars  por's6-na  Trasimenus.    tra'se-me'n#s 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE   ROMANS    CONQUER   THE    WEST 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  Romans  in  the 
West.  After  conquering  the  eastern  Mediterranean  coun- 
tries, the  Romans  turned  their  arms  against  the  Gauls,  in 
what  is  now  France,  against  the  Germans  beyond  the 
Danube,  and  against  the  Britons  in  England.  From  our 
standpoint,  the  spread  of  the  Romans  in  the  West  is 
important  because  these  western  peoples  had  most  to  do 
with  the  discovery  and  colonization  of  the  American 
continent. 

Caesar  in  Gaul.  Roman  rule  and  Roman  civilization 
were  carried  into  western  Europe  by  Julius  Caesar,  the 


80  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

greatest  man  of  the  Roman  world.  Caesar  was  a  member 
of  one  of  the  oldest  and  proudest  of  the  aristocratic  fam- 
ilies of  Rome.  But  he  believed  in  giving  the  common 
people  their  rights,  and  so  became  a  great  popular  leader. 
He  increased  his  popularity,  year  after  year,  by  giving 
entertainments  to  the  masses  of  the  people.  He  amused 
them  from  time  to  time  by  giving  sham  battles  on  the 
Tiber  and  gladiatorial  fights  in  the  arena.  The  people 
liked  him  and  he  was  elected  to  one  office  after  another 
until  finally  he  became  Consul,  the  highest  official  in  the 
land. 

In  the  year  58  B.C.  he  led  an  army  into  Gaul  and  pro- 
ceeded to  make  a  conquest  of  that  country.  Here  he  and 
bis  men  fought  bravely,  and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years, 
he  had  conquered  all  the  land  now  known  as  France, 
Belgium,  and  Holland.  In  doing  this,  however,  he  met 
men  worthy  of  his  steel. 

Vercingetorix,  Chief  of  the  Gauls.  The  greatest  of  these 
was  Vercingetorix,  a  noble  young  Gaul.  He  was  a  spirited 
patriot  and  was  unwilling  to  submit  to  Roman  rule.  He, 
therefore,  raised  a  revolt  against  the  power  of  Caesar  and 
attempted  to  drive  the  Romans  out  of  his  native  land. 
He  tried  to  starve  out  the  Roman  army  by  burning  sup- 
plies and  destroying  towns.  No  less  than  a  score  of 
cities  were  ablaze  on  a  single  day  and  the  Romans  were 
in  the  midst  of  a  sea  of  flame.  One  city  was  spared  and 
here  the  Gauls  took  refuge  and  defended  themselves  for 
about  a  month.  Finally,  Caesar  dashed  against  it  in  the 
midst  of  a  driving  rain  and  captured  the  town.  The  in- 
habitants, men,  women,  and  children,  were  massacred. 

Vercingetorix  was  making  some  headway,  however.     He 


THE   ROMANS 


CONQUER    THE  W$&T  --     ,  -,  $1-  , 


JULIUS  CAESAR 
Julius  Caesar  was  a  great  Roman  general,  statesman,  orator,  and  writer. 


-82 


'7 INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


met  and  defeated  Caesar  —  the  only  time  that  Caesar  was 
ever  defeated  in  an  open  battle.  In  another  battle, 
Caesar  was  captured  but  later  he  was  rescued  by  his  men. 
Caesar  now  redoubled  his  efforts  and  Vercingetorix  was 
compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the  hill-top  city  of  Alesia  in 
eastern  Gaul.  Caesar  laid  siege  to  this  place,  but  found 
fche  task  a  very  difficult  one.  But,  finally,  the  organized 


VERCINGETORIX  AND  HIS  SOLDIERS 

strength  and  skill  of  the  Romans  began  to  prevail  over  the 
great  numbers  and  savage  bravery  of  the  Gauls.  Ver- 
cingetorix, seeing  that  the  day  was  lost,  went  to  the  camp 
of  Caesar  and  gave  himself  up  as  a  prisoner,  in  order  to 
save  his  followers  from  slaughter.  Caesar  took  his  noble 
captive  to  Rome,  where  he  graced  the  triumphal  proces- 
sion and  was  later  put  to  death  in  a  dungeon.  He  was  the 


THE   ROMANS    CONQUER    THE   WEST 


83 


best  fighter  the  Romans  had  met  in  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  and  deserved  a  better  fate.  A  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory  on  the  site  of  his  heroic  stand. 

The  Germans.     While  in  Gaul,  Caesar  also  came  into 
contact   with   the   dreaded   Germans.     The   Romans   had 


THE  MEETING  OF  CAESAR  AND  ARIOVISTUS 

Ariovistus  proposed  to  share  the  territory  of  Gaul  with  the  Romans.  Caesar 
rejected  this  proposition  and  war  followed.  The  Roman  soldiers  were  so 
frightened  by  the  warlike  appearance  of  the  Germans  that  they  hesitated 
about  entering  the  battle.  It  was  here  that  Caesar  remarked  that  if  all  other 
soldiers  failed  him  he  would  face  the  foe  with  the  Tenth  Legion  alone.  The 
battle  was  fought,  the  Germans  were  defeated,  and  Ariovistus  escaped  across 
the  Rhine  River  in  a  small  boat. 

heard  alarming  stories  about  the  great  size  and  terrible 
appearance  of  these  people  and  were  not  at  all  anxious 
to  meet  them  in  battle.  So  when  Ariovistus,  a  German 
king,  crossed  the  Rhine  River  into  Gaul  to  seek  homes  for 
his  people,  the  Roman  soldiers  were  greatly  alarmed.  But 


84  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Caesar  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  He  said,  "If  no  others 
will  follow  me  against  the  Germans,  I  shall  go  forward 
with  the  tenth  legion  alone."  The  flattered  tenth  legion 
said  that  it  was  ready  to  march,  and  others  went  also. 
The  result  was  that  Ariovistus  was  beaten  in  battle  and 
was  driven  back  to  his  home  in  Germany. 

Caesar  in  Britain.  We  must  follow  Caesar  into  still 
another  country.  While  he  was  campaigning  in  Gaul, 
some  of  the  Britons  living  in  the  country  now  known  as 
England,  aided  the  Gauls  against  the  Romans.  The 
Gauls  and  Britons  belonged  to  the  same  race,  and  the 
Britons  probably  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  the  Romans 
conquered  the  Gauls,  their  turn  would  come  next.  Caesar 
also  had  heard  numerous  stories  about  the  wealth  and 
beauty  of  the  island  and  probably  had  some  curiosity  to 
see  the  country  for  himself  and  possibly  to  add  it  to  the 
domain  of  Rome. 

Therefore,  one  day  in  August,  55  B.C.,  a  crowd  of  half- 
naked  barbarians  with  painted  faces  saw  Caesar's  ships 
put  into  port  near  the  modern  English  town  of  Deal. 
The  Britons  tried  to  prevent  them  from  landing,  but  to 
no  avail.  After  defeating  the  natives  in  several  skir- 
mishes and  losing  some  of  his  ships  in  a  great  storm  off  the 
British  coast,  Caesar  prepared  to  go  back  to  Gaul.  He 
robbed  the  harvest  fields  of  the  Britons  to  get  food  for 
his  army,  and  then  sailed  away. 

In  the  following  summer  he  returned  to  Britain  with  a 
larger  force  of  men.  This  time  he  landed  twenty-two 
thousand  soldiers  without  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
natives.  When  he  began  his  march  inland,  however, 
the  Britons  fell  upon  him.  Nevertheless,  he  pushed  as  far 


THE   ROMANS   CONQUER    THE    WEST 


85 


north  as  the  Thames  River,  chastising  the  Britons,  and 
burning  their  huts  as  he  went.  The  Britons,  no  doubt, 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  when,  a  few  weeks  later,  they 
saw  his  boats  vanish  in  the  distance.  They  were  content 


THE  LANDING  OF  THE  ROMANS  IN  BRITAIN 

to  allow  the  Gauls  to  fight  their  own  battles  after  that. 
Caesar  wrote  an  account  of  his  experiences  and  observa- 
tions in  Britain  and  with  this  account  the  written  history 
of  Britain  begins. 

The  Real  Conquest  of  Britain.     It  cannot  be  said,  how- 


86  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

ever,  that  Caesar  made  a  conquest  of  Britain,  or  that  he 
added  it  to  the  Roman  Empire,  for  he  did  neither.  He 
found  the  island  and  told  the  Romans  enough  about  its 
resources  and  people  to  arouse  then-  curiosity  and  to  make 
them  wish  to  have  it  as  a  part  of  the  empire.  And  yet 
for  a  hundred  years  they  took  no  steps  in  this  direction. 
Finally,  in  43  A.D.,  they  began  a  systematic  conquest  of 
the  island  which  extended  over  many  years.  After  a  long 
period  of  fierce  fighting,  the  Romans  got  possession  of  all  of 
that  part  of  the  island  known  as  England  and  built  great 
walls  near  the  Scottish  border  for  defense  against  the  war- 
like peoples  of  the  north. 

Roman  Civilization  in  Britain.  When  the  Romans  came 
into  Britain,  they  brought  other  things  with  them  besides 
their  swords.  They  lived  there  for  three  hundred  fifty 
years  and  brought  Roman  civilization  with  them.  They 
built  towns  over  all  the  island  and  in  these  towns  were 
temples,  theaters,  and  fine  buildings — better  ones  than 
the  Britons  had  ever  dreamed  of.  They  also  drained  the 
marshes,  cleared  away  the  forests,  .and  built  roads  which 
have  lasted  even  to  this  day.  Four  great  Roman  roads 
spread  out  from  London  and  led  to  important  parts  of  the 
island.  The  Romans  also  built  great  walls  for  defense 
and  some  parts  of  these  still  exist.  They  taught  the 
Britons  to  cultivate  their  land  in  a  better  way,  to  make 
better  clothes,  and  in  every  way  to  live  better.  A 
Roman  villa,  with  its  baths,  works  of  art,  and  general 
refinement,  was  an  object  lesson  in  civilization  to  the  rude 
Britons.  In  religion,  there  were  marked  changes.  The 
Britons,  with  their  Druid  form  of  worship,  offered  up 
human  beings  as  sacrifices  in  their  dark  groves.  The 


THE   ROMANS    CONQUER    THE    WEST  87 

Romans  brought  with  them  their  gods  and  temples,  and 
later  Christianity  appeared  in  different  parts  of  the 
island. 

The  man  who  had  most  to  do  with  the  spread  of  Roman 
power  in  the  West  was  Julius  Caesar,  the  greatest  man 
ever  produced  by  Rome  and  one  of  the  greatest  in  all 
history. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  wherever  the  Romans 
went  they  brought  Roman  life,  industry,  art,  religion,  law, 
and  literature  with  them.  They  also  taught  a  plan  of 
organized  government  which  has  made  possible  safe  living 
in  great  cities.  Rome  gave  to  the  world  and  to  us  an 
idea  of  the  importance  of  citizenship. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  You  have  seen  in  this  chapter  how  the  Roman  Empire  is  spreading. 
Have  you  also  noticed  that  Caesar,  the  Great  Roman  Empire  builder,  did 
his  great  work  in  the  century  preceding  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  religion?    Keep  this  hi  mind  hi  the  next  few  chapters. 

2.  Which  do  you  think  had  the  better  ideas  about  empire  building, 
the  Persians  or  the  Romans? 

3.  Which  would  you  rather  be,  a  citizen  of  the  Roman  Empire  or  of  the 
British  Empire  of  to-day?    Why? 

4.  What  was  Rome's  greatest  contribution  to  the  world? 

5.  Compare  Caesar  with  Hannibal  and  note  the  differences.    Why  was 
Caesar   greater   than   Hannibal? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Alesia.    ci-le'sl-d  Gaul,     gol 

Ariovistus.     a-rf'o-vls'tus  Julius  Caesar.     jool'I-^s  se'zar 

Danube,     dan'ub  Rhine,     rm 

Druid.     droo'Id  Vercingetorix.     vur'sln-jet'6-rlks 


88  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  IX 
ROME,    THE    CAPITAL    OF   THE    EMPIRE 

Crossing  the  Rubicon.  At  this  point  we  are  just  a 
little  ahead  of  our  story  and  must  retrace  our  steps  for 
a  few  moments.  While  Caesar  was  winning  land  and 
laurels  in  Gaul,  some  other  leaders  of  the  Roman  State 
were  becoming  exceedingly  jealous  of  him.  His  enemies 
induced  the  Senate  to  order  that  he  should  give  up  his 
whole  army  upon  a  certain  day  or  be  declared  a  public 
enemy.  Instead  of  giving  up  his  army,  he  marched  with 
it  upon  Rome  to  chastise  his  enemies.  This  was  a  very 
serious  thing  to  do  and  Caesar  was  well  aware  of  it.  It 
was  against  the  Roman  law  for  any  one  to  enter  Italy 
without  laying  down  his  arms  at  the  boundary.  And 
when  Caesar  came  to  the  Rubicon  River,  which  separated 
his  province  of  Gaul  from  Italy,  he  hesitated.  But  finally 
exclaiming,  "The  die  is  cast,"  he  crossed  the  river,  and  with 
a  loud  blast  of  his  trumpet,  called  upon  his  troops  to  fol- 
low. This  they  did  and  marched  with  Caesar  against  the 
city  of  Rome.  Here  Caesar  quickly  scattered  his  enemies 
and  was  soon  the  master  of  the  city. 

He  next  defeated  his  enemies  in  Egypt  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  East.  After  one  of  his  battles,  he  sent  his 
famous  message  to  Rome,  "Veni,  vidi,  vici"  (meaning,  "I 
came,  I  saw,  I  conquered"),  which  indicates  the  rapidity 
with  which  he  acted.  He  was  now  master  of  the  Roman 
world,  and  became,  in  reality,  the  first  Emperor  of  the 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 

HEIGHT  OF  ITS  POWER 

It  is  evident  from  this  map  why  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  was  called  "A  Roman  take" 
Note  how  the  empire  was  bound  together 
by  the  Roman  roads. 

L 


i"itude  West      0  Longitude 5°  V.wt 10° from  15°       Greenwich        2(i 


35°  40° 


ROME,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  EMPIRE  89 

Roman  Empire.  He  did  not  live  long,  however,  to  enjoy 
his  power,  as  he  was  cruelly  murdered  in  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber at  Rome  (44  B.C.),  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
His  former  friends,  jealous  of  his  great  success,  fell  upon 


CAESAR  CROSSING  THE  RUBICON 

him  with  their  daggers,  and  he  dropped,  pierced  by  twenty- 
three  wounds.  A  Roman  historian  tells  us  that  the  people 
looked  upon  him  as  a  god  and  that  a  comet  which  blazed 
in  the  sky  for  seven  days  was  thought  to  be  the  soul  of 
Caesar  as  it  entered  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 


90 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


And  so,  slowly  but  surely,  the  Roman  army  took  pos- 
session of  the  countries  from  England  to  Egypt  and  from 
the  Danube  to  the  great  African  desert.  The  Romans 

were  defeated  at  tunes,  but 
they  fought  with  that  grim 
determination  which  finally 
crowned  them  with  success. 
The  City  of  Rome.  Julius 
Caesar  was  succeeded  in 
power  by  his  grand-nephew, 
Octavius,  or  Augustus,  as  he 
is  better  known.  This 
young  man  of  nineteen  was 
a  youth  of  remarkable  abil- 
ity, and  during  his  reign 
Rome  enjoyed 
Age"  of  her 
Augustus  was  Emperor  for 
some  years  both  before  and 
after  the  birth'  'of  Christ, 
and  during  that  time  Rome 
reached  the  pinnacle  of  her 
greatness.  The  "Age  of  Augustus"  in  Rome  corresponds 
to  the  "Age  of  Pericles"  in  Greece.  At  the  close  of  his 
reign,  Augustus  boasted  that  he  found  Rome  a  city  of 
brick  and  left  it  a  city  of  marble.  Some  of  the  wonders 
of  this  city  of  marble  are  worthy  of  our  attention. 

The  Forum.  The  Forum  was  the  architectural  center 
of  the  city.  It  was  a  large,  open  space  and  corresponded 
in  some  respects  to  the  Acropolis  at  Athens.  It  was  the 
scene  of  the  old  market  place  of  the  early  days,  but  later 


"the  Golden 
prosperity. 


AUGUSTUS  CAESAR 


ROME,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  EMPIR& 


?J 


II 


83 


E-B-  r 


- 


2.S 


Bg. 
11 


O 

i 


92  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

became  the  center  of  a  mass  of  beautiful  and  inspiring 
buildings,  including  palaces,  theaters,  circuses,  baths,  tombs, 
triumphal  arches,  columns,  and  other  monuments.  These 
were  enlarged  copies  of  the  buildings  which  the  Romans 
found  in  Greece.  Some  of  these  were  in  the  Forum,  others 


THE  PANTHEON 

The  above  picture  was  taken  from  a  photograph  of  a  small  model,  showing 
how  the  Pantheon  looked  in  the  "Golden  Age." 

near  it,  and  still  others  scattered  about  in  different  parts 
of  the  city. 

The  Pantheon.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings  of 
Rome  was  the  Pantheon,  or  the  " Temple  of  all  the  gods." 
It  was  built  by  Augustus  and  may  be  said  to  be  the  Roman 
Parthenon  (see  page  45). 

The  Coliseum.  The  Romans  were  very  fond  of  fights 
and  contests  of  all  kinds,  but  were  not  always  fair  sports- 


ROME,   THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  EMPIRE  93 

men.  They  loved  the  sensational  and  brutal  form  of  con- 
test. One  of  the  Emperors  built  the  famous  Coliseum, 
which  was  the  scene  of  gladiatorial  contests  and  fights 
between  wild  beasts  and  men.  The  most  savage  animals 
that  could  be  found  were  procured  for  this  purpose  from 


A  GLADIATORIAL  COMBAT 

When  one  of  the  fighters  had  his  opponent  at  his  mercy  he  looked  up  to  the 
spectators  to  see  whether  or  not  they  wished  to  have  his  life  taken.  Holding 
the  thumbs  up  was  the  signal  for  sparing  the  life  of  the  vanquished  man  while 
holding  the  thumbs  down  indicated  that  he  should  be  put  to  death. 

distant  forests  and  deserts.  The  effects  of  these  shows 
were  degrading  and  brutalizing,  and  yet  the  crowds  went 
wild  over  them.  The  prize  fight  and  the  bull  fight  of  the 
present  day  are  about  all  that  remain  of  this  low  form 
of  recreation. 

The   Circus   Maximus,  or  Great  Circus,   was  built  for 
sports  and  contests  of  various  kinds,  chief  among  them 


94  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

being  the  chariot  Braces.  The  Circus  was  two  thousand 
feet  long  and  six  hundred  feet  wide,  and  would  seat  four 
hundred  thousand  people.  The  chariot  races  were  a  most 
thrilling  spectacle.  Daring  and  reckless  drivers  drove  the 
fastest  horses  that  could  be  procured.  Usually  they  drove 
seven  times  around  the  course,  a  distance  of  four  miles. 
The  turns  were  short  for  such  terrific  speed  and  very  fre- 
quently horses,  chariots,  and  drivers  fell  into  a  tangled 


A  CHARIOT  RACE 

heap.  In  fact,  the  drivers,  instead  of  attempting  to  win 
the  race  on  its  merits,  often  tried  to  "  spill  their  opponents. " 
The  Public  Baths  were  among  the  finest  of  the  Roman 
buildings.  They  were  beautiful  and  spacious  structures 
with  granite  and  marble  columns  and  floors  of  fine  mosaic. 
Much  of  the  marble  used  was  brought  over  from  Greece. 
In  addition  to  the  baths  and  swimming  pools,  there  were 
gymnasiums,  lounging  rooms,  art  galleries  and  reading 
rooms,  and  halls  for  conversation.  These  baths  were  club 
houses  for  rich  and  poor  alike  and  became  the  social  cen- 
ters of  Rome. 


ROME,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  EMPIRE  95 

In  addition  to  these  public  buildings,  the  Romans  built 
fine  roads,  aqueducts,  and  private  dwellings.  The  founda- 
tions of  some  of  these  roads  are  still  solid  after  a  lapse  of 
two  thousand  years.  The  aqueducts  brought  water  from 
the  surrounding  hills  to  the  city  for  use.  The  aqueduct 
was  made  of  stone  and  was  built  with  a  slight  incline 
towards  the  city  and  never  with  ups  and  downs  as  we  now 
lay  our  water  pipes.  Mountains  were  leveled  and  valleys 
were  bridged  over  for  the  passage  of  the  waterway. 

Education.  In  education,  as  in  many  other  things,  the 
Romans  imitated  the  Greeks.  In  fact,  Greek  teachers 
were  found  in  Roman  schools  and  in  Roman  private  fam- 
ilies. The  Romans,  however,  made  one  very  great  im- 
provement upon  the  education  of  the  Greeks  —  they 
educated  their  girls  to  some  extent,  at  least,  as  well  as  the 
boys. 

The  schools  were  private,  not  public  as  with  us,  and  a 
small  fee  was  paid  by  the  pupil.  The  boy  entered  school 
at  the  age  of  six  or  seven,  and  was  taught  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic.  At  a  later  time  he  was  taught  Greek, 
rhetoric,  oratory,  and  philosophy.  It  was  considered  very 
important  that  the  boy  be  able  to  speak  in  public  and  he 
was  given  frequent  exercises  to  this  end.  The  school  work 
began  before  sunrise  and  the  discipline,  like  that  of  the 
Roman  army,  was  exceedingly  severe. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  What  effect  had  the  binding  together  of  the  Mediterranean  world 
into  one  great  empire  upon  the  spreading  of  Christianity? 

2.  If  there  is  some  one  in  your  community  who  has  visited  Rome,  ask 
your  teacher  to  invite  him  to  come  and  talk  to  your  class.     Get  him  to  tell 
you  about  the  Forum,  the  Pantheon,  the  Coliseum,  the  Baths  of  Caracalla, 
the  great  Aqueducts,  etc.    Be  ready  to  ask  him  questions. 


96  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

3.  How  did  the  education  of  the  Roman  boy  differ  from  that  of  the  Greek 
boy? 

4.  Have  you  ever  visited  the  capital  of  your  state  or  nation?    Rome  was 
a  beautiful  city,  but  Washington  is  beautiful  also. 

PRONOUNCING   LIST 

Caracalla.    kar'd-kal'd  Forum.    fo'r#m 

Circus    Maximus.     sur'kws  mak'sl-     Octavius.     6c-ta'vi-ws 
mws  Pantheon.     pan-the'Sn 

Coliseum.     kSl'I-se'ftm  Rubicon,     roo'bl-ko'n 


CHAPTER  X 
CHRISTIANITY   IN    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE 

Just  at  the  time  when  the  Roman  empire  was  at  the 
height  of  its  power  under  the  Emperor  Augustus,  the 
founder  of  Christianity  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  a  little 
village  in  Judea.  There  he  went  about  teaching  the  doc- 
trines of  his  new  religion,  and  after  his  death  his  followers 
carried  on  the  work.  Paul  and  other  apostles  went  to 
Athens  and  other  important  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire 
to  spread  the  new  faith. 

Persecution  of  the  Christians.  There  were  many  reli- 
gions in  the  Empire  and  Rome  tolerated  them  all  as  we 
do  in  our  country.  The  Roman  emperors,  at  first,  took 
no  notice  of  the  Christians.  The  believers  in  the  new 
religion  were  drawn,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  lower 
classes  of  society,  and  almost  no  attention  was  paid  to 
them  by  the  governing  classes.  They  did  not  seem  to 
be  worthy  of  notice.  Soon,  however,  the  Christians  came 
to  be  looked  upon  as  an  objectionable  body  of  people  and 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  ROMAN  -EMPIRE  97 

were  called  "  haters  of  mankind."  They  refused  to  wor- 
ship the  gods  of  the  Romans.  To  them  that  was  idol- 
worship  and  a  sin.  The  Christians  held  secret  meetings 
and  this  fact  also  aroused  suspicion  against  them.  The 
pagans  accused  them  of  many  crimes,  including  canni- 
balism, and  many  believed  that  famine,  pestilence,  and 
other  calamities  were  sent  upon  the  Romans  by  their 


THE  LAST  PRAYER 

The  Christians  in  Rome,  under  some  of  the  Emperors,  were  compelled  to 
undergo  cruel  tortures.  Here  we  see  a  group  of  them  about  to  be  sacrificed 
to  wild  beasts  before  a  vast  crowd  in  the  Coliseum. 

gods  because  of  the  offenses  of  the  Christians.  Soon  the 
Christians  came  to  be  despised  and  feared  by  some  of  the 
Emperors.  Wicked  emperors,  like  Nero,  persecuted  them 
almost  for  the  fun  of  it,  and  good  men,  like  Marcus 
Aurelius,  did  so  as  a  pious  duty. 

The  Persecutions  of  Nero.     The  young  Nero  was  only 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  he  became  Emperor  and  he 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


was  more  interested  in  dancing  and  other  forms  of  amuse- 
ment than  he  was  in  anything  else.  He,  therefore,  turned 
over  the  government  to  others  for  a  time.  It  would  have 
been  better  for  the  Christians  and  for  all  concerned  if  he 
had  kept  his  hands  off  altogether.  But  he  did  not. 

A  large  part  of  the  city  of  Rome  was  burned  during 
Nero's  reign,   and  the  Emperor,  because  of  his  peculiar 

antics,  was  accused 
of  setting  it  on  fire. 
He  seemed  to  enjoy 
the  burning  very 
much  and  an  old 
story  tells  us  that 
he  played  his  harp 
while  the  city  burned. 
In  order  to  ward  off 
suspicion  from  him- 
self, he  accused  the 
Christians  of  setting 
the  fire  and  pro- 

NERO  WATCHING  THE  BURNING  OF  ROME        ceeded       to      punjsh 

them  for  it.  They  were  tortured  very  cruelly.  A  Roman 
historian  tells  us  that  "in  their  deaths  they  were  made  the 
subjects  of  sport;  for  they  were  covered  with  skins  of 
wild  beasts,  worried  to  death  by  dogs,  and  being  covered 
with  pitch  were  burned  to  serve  for  torches  in  the  night. 
Nero  offered  his  garden  for  this  spectacle."  The  Roman 
people  showed  signs  of  pity  for  the  sufferers,  but  the  cruel 
Emperor  did  not  relent.  This  outburst  against  the  Chris- 
tians was  not  entirely  on  religious  grounds  and  did  not 
extend  beyond  the  city  of  Rome. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 


99 


Christianity  grew,  however,  in  spite  of  persecution.  It 
may  have  grown  more  rapidly  because  of  it.  The  Chris- 
tians were  very  aggressive.  They  believed  that  it  was  their 
holy  duty  to  convert  all  men  to  their  faith.  The  new 
religion  also  had  something  to  offer  which  the  old  pagan 
religion  did  not  have.  It  was  the  first  religion  to  teach 
universal  brotherhood,  that  the  soul  of  the  slave  was  as 
good  as  the  soul  of 
an  Emperor,  and  it 
recognized  no  caste 
or  class  distinction. 
It  also  taught  par- 
don for  sins  and  the 
immortality  of  the 
soul,  or  the  life  after 
the  life  on  earth. 
Many  poor  and  op- 
pressed souls  found 
comfort  and  solace 
in  the  teachings  of 
the  Christians. 
Christianity  grew 
steadily  and  Christian  teachers  appeared  all  over  the 
Empire. 

Constantine  and  the  Flaming  Cross.  Finally  Constan- 
tine  became  Emperor  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. He  was  a  masterful  man  with  splendid  insight  into 
the  problems  of  government.  He  saw  the  growing  power 
of  the  Christians  and  probably  wished  to  have  their  assist- 
ance in  his  wars.  He  was  also  friendly  to  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  and  it  is  said  that  while  on  a  military  cam- 


CONSTANTINE  SEES  THE   FLAMING   CROSS  IN 
THE   SKY 


100  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

paign,  he  saw  in  the  heavens  a  flaming  sign  of  the  Cross, 
with  the  words  upon  it,  "By  this  sign  you  shall  conquer. " 
It  is  said  that  he  made  a  vow  to  accept  the  God  of  the 
Christians  in  case  of  success.  He  won  his  battle  and  was 
immediately  baptized  into  the  Christian  faith.  This  story 
may  or  may  not  be  true,  but  it  is  certain  that  Constan- 
tine  became  a  Christian  and  made  Christianity  the  state 
religion  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Now  that  Christianity  had  the  official  endorsement  of 
the  Emperor,  it  spread  rapidly  in  all  parts  of  the  Empire. 
Many  thrilling  stories  could  be  told  of  the  work  of  devoted 
missionaries  of  the  Christian  Church,  if  our  space  per- 
mitted. Perhaps  you  will  recall  some  of  these  stories  and 
possibly  you  may  have  time  to  read  some  in  other  books. 

Summary.  Let  us  now  sum  up  briefly  what  has  been 
said  in  the  last  few  chapters.  Greece  inherited  the  civili- 
zation of  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  other  oriental  countries. 
She  adopted  the  best  of  this  civilization,  improved  upon  it, 
and  handed  it  on  to  her  successors,  the  Romans.  As  the 
Romans  conquered  country  after  country  in  their  trium- 
phal swing  around  the  Mediterranean,  they  found  every- 
where the  seeds  of  Greek  culture,  planted  by  Greek  col- 
onists. They  also  captured  Greek  cities,  such  as  Corinth, 
and  carried  away  their  art  treasures  to  Rome.  They 
studied  the  writings  of  the  great  Greek  authors  and 
employed  Greek  teachers  in  their  schools.  In  this  way, 
the  Romans  adopted  and  absorbed  the  civilization  of  the 
Greeks  and  carried  it  into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
Mediterranean  world. 

The  Romans  were  very  different  from  the  Greeks.  The 
Greeks  were  men  of  thought,  while  the  Romans  were 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  101 

men  of  action.  The  Greeks  delighted  and  excelled  in 
poetry,  history,  oratory,  philosophy,  sculpture,  painting, 
and  architecture,  while  the  Romans  were  at  their  best  in 
conquering  and  in  governing.  They  excelled  in  the  so- 
called  practical  things,  while  they  imitated  Greek  art  and 
literature.  They  built  roads  and  aqueducts,  sewers  and 
temples,  which  are  in  existence  at  the  present  day.  Their 
greatest  original  contribution  to  civilization,  however,  was 
in  law  and  government.  The  government  and  patriotism 
of  the  Greeks  were  narrow.  They  were  limited  to  a  single 
city.  The  Romans  made  them  world- wide.  It  was  a  very 
fortunate  thing  that  Greek  and  Roman  civilization  came 
into  contact.  They  worked  well  together.  The  Romans 
added  what  was  lacking  in  the  Greeks  and  between  them 
they  gave  much  to  later  civilization.  They  are  among 
the  "  makers  of  America."  Many  of  our  government 
buildings  in  Washington  are  patterned  after  Greek  models. 
Greek  and  Latin  are  taught  in  our  schools.  Greek  art 
abounds  in  our  art  galleries.  Our  engineers  have  studied 
the  roads,  sewers,  and  aqueducts  of  Rome.  Roman  law 
is  taught  in  our  universities.  The  alphabet  used  on  this 
page  and  the  numerals  at  the  heads  of  the  chapters  are 
Roman;  and  last,  and  by  no  means  least,  it  was  the  Romans 
who  brought  the  Christian  religion  to  those  nations  who 
discovered  and  colonized  the  United  States  of  America. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  How  do  you  account  for  the  marvelous  spread  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  spite  of  the  bitter  persecution? 

2.  The  catacombs  of  St.  Calixtus  on  the  famous  Appian  Way,  a  short 
distance  out  from  Rome,  may  be  visited  to-day.    Here  you  will  see  the 
underground  rooms  in  which  the  early  Christians  worshiped  when  it  meant 
death  to  admit  being  a  Christian. 


1Q3  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

3.  Why  was  Constantino's  conversion  of  so  great  importance? 

4.  Why  was  it  fortunate  that  Greek  and  Roman  civilization  came  into 
contact?    Name  as  many  Greek  gifts  to  the  world  as  you  can. 

5.  Do  not  forget  the  names  of  some  of  the  famous  old  Greeks  and 
Romans.     Go  back  to  previous  chapters  and  make  a  list  of  at  least  six  of 
each  nation,  adding  to  their  names  what  it  was  that  they  did  that  made 
them  so  notable. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Appian.     ap'I-an  Judea.    joo-de'd 

Calixtus.    ka-llks'toos  Marcus  Aurelius.    mar'kws  6-re'lI-ws 

Constantino.    k6n'stan-tm  Nero,    ne'ro 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  GERMANS,  THE  SUCCESSORS  AND  HEIRS  OF 
THE   ROMANS 

We  now  bid  good-bye  to  the  Romans  and  seek  an  intro- 
duction to  their  successors  and  heirs,  the  Germans.  After 
the  Roman  had  conquered  the  world,  he  seemed  to  have 
nothing  else  to  do.  So  he  gave  himself  up  to  ease,  idle- 
ness, and  luxury.  He  became  indolent  and  sluggish,  both 
in  body  and  in  mind.  He  seemed  to  lose  his  old-time 
vigor  and  patriotism  and  to  care  more  for  gambling, 
chariot  races,  gladiatorial  shows,  and  the  tricks  of  politics. 
There  was  fighting  enough  to  be  done,  of  course,  but  he 
preferred  to  hire  some  one  to  do  it  for  him.  A  nation 
made  up  of  such  men  cannot  last  long,  so  we  will  now 
see  how  the  Romans  were  compelled  to  step  aside  and  give 
way  to  the  vigorous  and  hardy  Germans. 


THE  GERMANS  103 

The  Germans.  While  the  Romans  were  building  up  a 
great  empire  about  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  another  and  a 
very  different  people  had  their  homes  east  of  the  Rhine 


EUROPE  IN  THE  EARLY  CENTURIES  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA 

and  north  of  the  Danube  River.  These  people  were  called 
Germans.  In  one  sense  these  Germans  were  not  worthy 
successors  of  the  Romans,  but  in  another  sense  they  were. 
They  were  not  so  highly  civilized  as  the  Romans  —  in 
fact,  the  Germans  at  this  time  were  rude  barbarians  — 


104  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

but  they  had  the  vigor  and  the  industry  which  made  them 
prominent  in  Europe  at  a  later  time. 

The  country  of  the  Germans  at  this  time  was  not  invit- 
ing. It  was  rough  and  rugged  and  covered,  for  the  most 
part,  with  dark  forests  and  unhealthful  swamps.  The 
climate  was  severe  and  living  was  hard.  The  people  lived 


A  GERMAN  HOMESTEAD 

The  early  German  lived  an  independent  life  in  the  forests  and  among  the 
mountains.  He  was  a  good  fighter  and  a  bold  hunter. 

in  rude  huts,  huddled  together  in  little  clusters,  somewhat 
like  the  wigwams  of  an  Indian  village.  They  made  a 
living  by  hunting,  fishing,  caring  for  their  flocks,  and  by 
a  very  primitive  kind  of  agriculture. 

The  Germans  were  fair,  tall,  and  strong  and  when  not 
fighting  were  idle,  for  all  work  was  done  by  women  and 


THE  GERMANS  105 

slaves.  They  were  great  drinkers  and  gamblers,  and  often 
in  their  games  a  man  would  stake  his  freedom  upon  the 
result.  If  he  lost  he  became  the  slave  of  the  winner.  The 
Germans  worshiped  heathen  gods,  prominent  among  which 
were  Woden,  the  god  of  the  sky,  and  Thor,  the  god  of 
thunder  and  lightning,  from  whom  we  derive  the  names 
of  our  days,  Wednesday  and  Thursday. 

The  German  Invasion.  It  was  natural  enough  that 
these  restless  barbarians  should  cast  longing  eyes  at  the 
wealth  and  civilization  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The 
beautiful  fields,  the  fine  homes,  and  the  mild  climate 
attracted  them  and  soon  they  began  to  make  forays  and 
inroads  into  various  parts  of  the  Roman  world. 

Now,  while  the  Romans  conquered  other  peoples,  they 
never  made  much  headway  against  the  Germans.  Julius 
Caesar,  it  is  true,  drove  Ariovistus,  the  Germanic  chieftain, 
back  into  his  forests  and  punished  his  followers,  but  gen- 
erals like  Caesar  were  very  scarce  in  Rome  in  the  later 
days.  Even  Augustus  tried  to  make  a  conquest  of  the 
Germans  but  was  compelled  to  give  it  up.  In  the  year 
9  A.D.,  he  sent  his  general,  Varus,  at  the  head  of  an  army 
against  the  Germans.  Hermann,  the  great  Germanic 
ch  3ftain,  however,  rallied  his  people  and  destroyed  the 
Roman  army  in  the  Teutoberg  Forest.  Augustus  was 
sorely  grieved  and  cried  out  in  despair,  "  Oh,  Varus,  Varus, 
give  me  back  my  legions."  Varus  could  not  do  so,  how- 
ever, as  the  bodies  of  his  soldiers  were  scattered  widely 
over  the  country  and  their  bones  had  been  left  to  whiten 
"in  the  German  forests. 

The  Battle  of  Adrianople  (378  A.D.).  After  the  Romans 
stopped  sending  armies  against  the  Germans,  the  Germans 


106 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


began  to  send  armies  against  the  Romans.  The  tables 
were  turned  and  the  Romans  were  now  fighting  on  the 
defensive. 

The  first  great  German  invasion  of  Roman  territory 
came  about  in  this  way.  The  Goths,  a  German  tribe, 
were  living  at  peace  north  of  the  Danube  River.  Sud- 


THE  VICTORIOUS  GERMANS  RETURNING  FROM  TEUTOBERG  FOREST 

denly  the  terrible  Huns  appeared  from  Asia,  fell  upon 
them,  and  drove  them  from  their  homes.  These  Huns 
were  a  fiendish  set  of  stunted,  blood-thirsty  men.  They 
were  almost  dwarfs  in  size,  but  their  small  bodies  were 
filled  with  a  terrible  vigor.  Small  beady  eyes  glistened 
in  their  yellow,  weazened  faces.  Their  faces  were  also 
beardless  and  scarred.  It  was  their  custom  to  burn  the 
faces  of  their  boys  with  hot  irons  in  order  to  make  them 
fierce  in  appearance. 
When  these  hideous  dwarfs  appeared  upon  the  Danube 


THE  GERMANS  107 


the  Goths  were  thrown  into  confusion.  About  %o  hun- 
dred thousand  of  them  huddled  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
river  and  implored  the  Roman  Emperor  to  permit  them 
to  cross  over.  Permission  was  granted  and  a  huge  German 
colony  was  formed  within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

The  Romans  began  at  once  to  plunder  and  oppress  the 
fugitives,  and  the  Goths  immediately  took  up  arms  and 
defeated  them  in  the  famous 
I  .  battle  of  Adrianople.  The  em- 
peror was  killed  and  a  large 
part  of  his  army  destroyed. 
This  victory  encouraged  the 
Goths  and  made  them  feel  as 
much  at  home  in  the  empire  as 
if  they  had  a  right  to  be  there. 
Meanwhile  the  Huns  were 
not  idle,  as  we  shall  now  see. 

Attila  and  the  Huns.  After  their  victory  over  the  Goths, 
the  Huns  settled  down  in  what  is  now  Hungary  and  be- 
came a  strong  power.  Their  king,  Attila,  built  a  log  cabin 
for  a  capitol  and  was  looked  upon  as  the  leader  of  his 
race,  both  in  Europe  and  in  Asia.  Attila  was  a  terrible 
man,  and  he  set  out  upon  a  campaign  of  death  and  de- 
struction in  Gaul.  An  army  of  these  fierce  little  fiends, 
riding  on  their  fleet  ponies  like  a  cyclone,  slaughtered  men, 
women,  and  children,  destroyed  crops  and  applied  the  torch 
to  cities  as  they  went.  It  looked  as  though  this  storm- 
cloud  of  destruction  might  sweep  over  all  western  Europe, 
but  fortunately  the  Romans  and  the  Germans  united  to 
check  the  course  of  the  Huns,  a  common  enemy. 

The  Battle  of  Chalons  (451  A.D.).     They  met  Attila  a 


108 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


short  distance  from  Chalons  and  there  fought  one  of  the 
fiercest  and  most  decisive  battles  known  to  the  history 
of  the  world.  It  was  war  to  the  knife,  with  no  quarter 
given  or  asked.  The  battle  made  a  vivid  impression  upon 
the  people  of  the  time,  and  we  are  told  that  "the  blood 
from  the  thousands  of  wounds  swelled  to  a  torrent  the 
brook  which  flowed  through  the  field  of  battle."  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  what  would  have  happened  to  the  world 


ATTILA,  "THE  SCOURGE  OF  GOD" 

if  the  Huns  had  won  the  battle  of  Chalons,  but  it  seems 
certain  that  the  march  of  civilization  would  have  been 
stopped  for  a  time,  if  not  forever;  and  this  is  why  this 
battle  is  so  important. 

Attila  was  defeated  and  driven  out  of  Gaul,  but  he 
appeared  in  Italy  during  the  following  year.  People  flew 
from  his  presence  as  they  would  from  a  prairie  fire.  Some 
of  those  who  escaped  with  their  lives  sought  refuge  among 
the  islands  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  This  miserable  settlement 
afterwards  became  the  great  and  picturesque  city  of  Venice. 
Attila  then  pressed  on  and  threatened  Rome,  but  the  good 


THE  GERMANS  109 

bishop,  Leo,  induced  him  to  spare  the  city.  He  finally 
left  Italy  and  died  soon  after,  and  the  great  empire  of  the 
Huns  fell  to  pieces.  With  the  Huns  out  of  the  way,  the 
Germans  found  it  a  much  easier  task  to  get  possession  of 
the  Roman  Empire. 

The  Germans  in  Britain.  While  the  Germans  were 
taking  possession  of  the  Roman  Empire,  even  remote 
Britain  was  not  overlooked.  Just  about  the  time  the 
Germans  and  Romans  were  combining  to  crush  the  Huns 
at  Chalons,  little  bands  of  Germans,  known  as  Angles, 
Saxons,  and  Jutes,  began  to  emigrate  to  Britain  from  the 
northern  part  of  Germany. 

You  will  remember  that  about  a  hundred  years  after  the 
visits  of  Julius  Caesar  to  Britain,  the  Romans  added  to 
the  empire  the  country  which  we  now  call  England.  The 
Romans  remained  in  control  of  England  until  410  A.D.,  at 
which  time  the  Germans  under  Alaric,  a  talented  young 
noble  who  had  been  elected  chieftain,  were  attacking 
Rome.  This  made  it  necessary  to  recall  the  Roman  sol- 
diers from  Britain  in  order  to  defend  the  capital  city,  and 
so  the  island  of  Britain  was  turned  back  again  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  native  inhabitants.  These  inhabitants  had, 
however,  been  protected  so  long  by  the  Roman  army  that 
they  did  not  know  how  to  protect  themselves.  They 
were,  therefore,  an  easy  prey  for  the  savage  tribes  around 
them.  The  Picts  from  Scotland  and  the  Scots  from  Ire- 
land plundered  and  killed  the  weak  and  defenseless  Britons. 
They  hardly  knew  what  to  do,  and,  in  their  despair,  they 
asked  the  Romans  to  send  back  their  soldiers  to  protect 
them.  This  Rome  could  not  do,  as  she  had  more  serious 
business  on  hand.  Just  at  this  time,  so  the  story  goes,  a 


110  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

band  of  Jutes  under  their  leaders,  Hengist  and  Horsa, 
landed  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Britain  in  what  is  now 
the  county  of  Kent.  These  Jutes  were  reckless  rovers  and 
pirates,  ever  ready  to  plunder  or  to  fight.  To  them  the 
Britons  turned  for  assistance.  They  asked  them  to  join 
in  the  war  against  their  fierce  neighbors.  The  Jutes 
agreed,  turned  in,  and  lent  a  hand.  The  result  was  that 
the  combined  Britons  and  Jutes  were  successful. 

Just  at  this  point,  however,  a  very  unexpected  turn 
took  place.  The  Britons  thought  that  since  the  fighting 
was  over  the  Jutes  would  go  their  way  rejoicing.  But 
the  Jutes  could  not  see  it  in  that  way.  They  said  that 
they  liked  the  country  and  the  climate  much  better  than 
they  did  their  own  frozen  north  and  that  they  had  decided 
to  stay  and  to  make  themselves  at  home  in  Britain.  And 
so  they  stayed.  Not  only  this,  but  their  relatives  and 
friends  came  trooping  after  them  and  continued  to  come 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  By  that  time,  the  new- 
comers had  possession  of  all  the  land  now  known  as 
England,  and  the  movement,  known  in  history  as  the 
Anglo-Saxon  conquest,  was  complete.  It  should  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  the  Germanic  people  never  ob- 
tained possession  of  what  we  now  call  Scotland,  Wales, 
and  Ireland.  The  inhabitants  of  these  latter  countries 
were  called  Celts,  of  whom  we  shall  learn  more  later  on. 

The  Roman  Empire  becomes  a  German  Empire.  And 
so  the  Germans  were  grabbing  territory  in  all  parts  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  finally  they  brushed  aside  the  Em- 
peror Augustulus  and  put  their  own  chieftain,  Odoacer, 
in  his  place.  The  Germans  fought  many  other  battles  on 
Roman  soil,  but  the  one  great  and  important  thing  to  be  re- 


THE   GERMANS  111 

membered  is,  that,  little  by  little,  the  Germans  overran  the 
whole  Roman  Empire  and  that  in  476  they  put  one  of  their 
own  number  upon  the  throne  at  Rome.  At  this  date  the 
empire  ceased  to  be  Roman  and  became  German. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO   THE  PUPIL 

1.  Suppose  the  Huns  instead  of  the  Germans  had  been  successful  in 
overturning  the  Roman  Empire,  what  difference  would  it  have  made? 

2.  The  Romans,  Germans,   and   others   seemed  obliged  to   do   a  great 
deal  of  fighting.     Civilized  nations  are  still  fighting.     Do  you  think  the  time 
will  ever  come  when  nations  will  settle  their  difficulties  without  warfare? 

3.  Why  were  the  Huns  feared  so  much? 

4.  What  can  you  say  about  Attila,  Adrianople,   Chalons,  Picts,  Scots, 
Jutes,  Angles,  Saxons,  Goths? 

6.  What  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  Conquest? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Adrianople.     ad'rf-an-o'p'l  Picts.    plkts 

Alaric.     al'd-rlk  Teutoberg.     toi't6-btirg 

Attila.     at'I-ld  Thor.     thor 

Augustulus.     6-gGs'tti-lws  Varus.     va'rws 

Chalons.    sha'16n'  Venice.    venTs 

Goths.    g6ths  Woden    wo'dgn 
Odoacer.    o'do-a'ser 


112  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE    SPREAD    OF   CHRISTIANITY 

"  The  torch  of  knowledge  which  antiquity  had  kindled  had 
fallen  from  the  hands  that  held  it,  and  burned  but  feebly 
on  the  ground" 

The  Dark  Ages.  Now  let  us  ask,  what  effect  did  these 
German  invasions  have  upon  the  civilization  of  the  Roman 
Empire?  It  received  a  marked  setback,  as  we  might  ex- 
pect, in  more  ways  than  one.  The  Germans  were,  for  the 
most  part,  barbarians  and  only  a  very  small  fraction  of 
them  had  been  converted  to  the  Christian  religion.  They 
were  not  interested  in  books  or  works  of  art  and  they 
scoffed  at  the  refining  influences  of  life.  It  seemed  for  a 
time  as  if  the  lights  of  learning  had  been  snuffed  out  by 
the  hands  of  these  rude,  barbaric  Germans.  The  masses 
of  the  people  were  not  being  educated  and  the  writing  of 
books  had  almost  ceased.  This  state  of  things  lasted  for 
several  centuries  and  this  period  is  commonly  known  in 
history  as  "  The  Dark  Ages."  We  shall  see  later,  how- 
ever, that  these  ages  were  not  really  so  "  dark  "  as  they 
appeared  to  be. 

Thus  the  German  was  a  destroyer  and  spread  devasta- 
tion over  a  large  part  of  the  map  of  Europe.  It  took  the 
various  countries  many  long  centuries  to  recover  from  this 
setback  at  the  hands  of  the  barbarians.  In  this  recovery 
the  Germans  had  their  part.  Many  hundred  years  passed 


THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY' 


113 


ENGLAND 
1066-1485. 

Battlefields  shown  thus:-*-  X 


Walker&Cociteroll  sc. 


ENGLAND  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


This  map  shows  the  scene  of  the  battle  between  William,  the  Duke  of 
Normandy  and  Harold,  the  King  of  England.  It  also  shows  the  location  of 
Canterbury,  the  home  of  the  famous  Canterbury  Cathedral.  A  little  to  the 
east  and  north  of  Canterbury  is  the  landing  place  of  St.  Augustine  and  his 
forty  monks  and  also  of  the  Jutes  under  Hengist  and  Horsa.  To  the  west 
of  Canterbury  is  Runnymede,  where  King  John  signed  the  great  charter. 


il<i         INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

before  they  began  to  appreciate  the  best  things  that  had 
been  done  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  but  they  were  a 
patient,  plodding  and  industrious  people,  and  to  what  was 
left  of  civilization  they  added  many  ideas,  customs  and 
ways  of  living  of  their  own.  The  German  spirit  in  these 
simple  times  was  very  different  from  the  Prussian  spirit  of 
the  present  day.  It  seems  a  pity  that  the  Germans  should 
later  on,  in  the  World  War,  direct  their  energies  towards 
the  destruction  of  civilization  rather  than  towards  the 
upbuilding  of  it. 

The  Spread  of  Christianity.  One  of  the  most  powerful 
forces  in  rebuilding  the  civilization  of  the  empire  was  the 
spread  of  Christianity.  In  connection  with  this  work,  we 
find  the  names  of  many  great  leaders  in  the  Christian  Church. 
St.  Augustine  and  his  Forty  Monks.  The  story  of 
St.  Augustine  and  his  band  of  forty  monks  will  illus- 
trate the  way  in  which  the  missionaries  carried  the  Gospel 
of  the  Cross  to  the  German  tribes.  Gregory  was  a  pious 
monk  who  was  afterwards  known  as  Gregory  the  Great, 
on  account  of  his  notable  work  for  the  Christian  Church. 
While  passing  through  the  slave  market  of  Rome  one  day, 
he  saw  some  beautiful  fair-haired  boys  being  offered  for 
sale.  He  asked  who  they  were  and  where  they  came  from 
and  whether  or  not  they  were  followers  of  Christ.  He 
was  told  that  they  were  Angles  from  England  and  that 
they  and  their  people  were  still  heathens.  "  Not  Angles, 
•but  angels,"  said  Gregory  "  and  the  praise  of  God  will 
yet  be  sung  in  their  land,  so  that  their  fair  souls  may  some 
day  become  angels  in  heaven." 

Some  years  later,  this  same  Gregory  became  Pope  of 
Rome  and  he  still  remembered  the  fair  boys  in  the  market- 


THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


115 


place.  He  accordingly  sent  St.  Augustine,  another  monk, 
with  forty  companions,  as  missionaries  to  the  land  of  the 
Angles.  This  small  band  of  pious  men  landed  in  the 
county  of  Kent  in  597,  where  the  Jutes,  Hengist  and 
Horsa,  had  landed  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  be- 
fore. Now  it  so  happened  that  the  king  of  Kent  was 
Ethelbert,  and  that  his  wife,  Bertha,  was  a  Frankish  prin- 
cess and  a  Christian. 
So  when  St.  Augus- 
tine sent  word  to 
the  king  that  he 
had  come  to  tell 
him  and  his  people 
about  Christ,  Ethel- 
bert received  him 
kindly,  but  insisted 
that  the  meeting  be 
held  in  the  open  air, 
so  that  no  harm 
could  be  done  him 
by  the  magic  of  the 
strangers.  The 
monks  then  came  into  the  presence  of  the  king  and  queen, 
chanting  the  Litany  and  bearing  a  large  silver  cross  on  high 
and  a  rude  picture  of  Christ,  painted  upon  a  board.  St. 
Augustine  then  explained  the  new  religion  to  the  king 
and  his  attendants.  Ethelbert  listened  attentively  to  every 
word  of  the  missionary  and  then  said:  "Fair  are  your 
words,  but  also  new  and  strange.  I  may  not  forsake  the 
gods  of  my  fathers,  but  as  for  my  people  they  may  believe 
whatsoever  they  will  and  no  man  shall  hinder  them." 


GREGORY  AND  THE  ENGLISH  SLAVE 
CHILDREN 


116  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

St.  Augustine  and  his  companions  then  settled  down  in 
Canterbury  to  teach  and  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
At  first  they  used  Queen  Bertha's  chapel,  but  later  an  old 
church  of  the  Roman  times  was  repaired  and  became  the 
predecessor  of  the  present  famous  Canterbury  Cathedral. 
Other  buildings  were  erected  and  the  little  religious  colony 
spread  and  prospered. 

The  monks  lived  an  exceedingly  simple  life,  preaching 
to  all  who  cared  to  listen  to  them  and  giving  no  thought 
to  the  accumulation  of  riches.  In  the  course  of  time, 
Ethelbert  and  thousands  of  his  people  were  baptized  into 
the  Christian  faith,  and  fifty  years  after  the  coming  of 
St.  Augustine  almost  all  of  England  had  been  rescued 
from  heathenism.  "The  civilization,  arts,  and  letters 
which  had  fled  before  the  swords  of  the  English  conquerors 
returned  with  the  Christian  faith." 

Missionaries  to  the  Germans.  Other  missionaries  were 
doing  the  same  kind  of  work  among  the  Germans.  In  the 
course  of  time  all  of  the  Germans  cast  aside  the  worship 
of  Thor  and  Woden  for  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  recep- 
tion of  these  missionaries  was  not  always  so  pleasant  as 
that  of  St.  Augustine  and  his  companions.  Sometimes 
they  were  put  to  death  in  a  most  painful  and  brutal  way. 
This,  however,  did  not  check  the  progress  of  Christianity. 
It  really  seemed  to  hasten  it.  "The  blood  of  the  martyr 
is  the  seed  of  the  church."  The  murder  of  one  missionary 
made  his  companions  more  eager  than  ever  to  spread  the 
Gospel. 

The  Cathedrals.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  results  of 
the  spread  of  Christianity  over  Europe  was  the  building 
of  the  famous  cathedrals  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Americans 


THE   SPREAD    OF    CHRISTIANITY 


117 


traveling  in  Europe  always  make  it  a  point  to  visit 
some  of  these  great  buildings.  The  Chartres  Cathedral 
in  France  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture in  the  world.  It  was  begun  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury and  finished  by  1240.  Some  of  the  cathedrals  were 
Romanesque  in  style,  with  rounded  arches  and  domes, 
while  others  were  Gothic,  distinguished  by  the  sharp, 
pointed  arch,  the  tall  slender 
spire,  and  profuse  ornamentation. 
The  cathedral  at  Durham  in 
England  is  a  good  example  of  the 
Romanesque. 

The  Monasteries.  The  monks 
were  religious  bodies  of  men  who 
lived  together  in  monasteries. 
Sometimes  they  lived  secluded 
from  the  outside  world  and  again 
they  mingled  with  the  people. 
These  monks  lived  under  very 
strict  rules  of  discipline  and  usually 
took  vows  of  "  poverty,  chastity, 
and  obedience." 

The  monks  were  also  the  best 
farmers  of  their  day.  Some  of  them,  especially  those 
of  the  order  known  as  Benedictines,  were  hard  workers. 
They  cleared  off  the  forests  and  drained  the  swamps  and 
changed  useless  and  desolate  regions  into  beautiful  and 
fruitful  fields. 

The  monks  were  also  the  most  zealous  missionaries  of 
the  time. 

The    Monks    as   Educated   Men.     The  monks  performed 


CHARTRES  CATHEDRAL 


118 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


still  another  great  service.  In  the  quiet  of  their  cloisters 
they  preserved  the  learning  of  the  Roman  world.  They, 
together  with  the  priests,  were  the  best  educated  men  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  the  monastery  became  the  center  of 
education.  Schools  were  established  by  the  monks  and 
many  of  these  later  became  the  famous  universities  of 
Europe.  Printing  was  not  known  in  the  Middle  Ages  and 


WRITING  ROOM  OF  A  MONASTERY 

the  monks  preserved  and  multiplied  books  by  copying 
them  by  hand.  If  they  had  not  done  this,  probably  most 
of  the  books  written  by  the  great  Greek  and  Latin  authors 
would  never  have  come  down  to  us.  In  doing  this  work, 
some  of  the  monks  became  very  skillful.  They  would 
take  a  sheet  of  parchment  and  line  it  with  a  straight- 
edge and  awl.  They  would  then  print  the  copy,  making 
each  letter  by  hand,  and  with  the  greatest  of  care.  A 
space  was  left  at  the  head  of  each  chapter  and  in  this 
some  monk  having  artistic  ability  painted  a  picture  or  an 


THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY  119 

ornamental  letter,  called  an  " illuminated  capital."  The 
copying  of  an  entire  book  was  a  very  slow  process  and  some- 
times occupied  many  months.  The  monks  spent  a  certain 
time  each  day  in  the  writing  room  of  the  monastery.  Here 
absolute  silence  was  the  rule.  If  a  worker  wanted  some 
material,  he  made  a  sign  to  the  master.  No  word  could 
be  spoken. 

In  addition  to  all  of  the  above,  the  monks  cared  for  the 
sick  and  gave  alms  to  the  poor.  In  doing  the  work  of 
charity,  the  women,  who  were  called  nuns,  were  also  a 
great  assistance.  In  some  instances  the  monastery  and 
the  nunnery  resembled  our  modern  hospitals.  One  of  the 
most  famous  monasteries  in  Europe  was  situated  at  St. 
Albans,  about  forty  miles  northwest  of  London. 

The  Work  of  Charlemagne.  Charlemagne,  or  Charles 
the  Great,  probably  did  more  than  any  other  one  man  to 
rebuild  the  civilization  which  the  early  Germans  had  torn 
down.  Charlemagne  was  a  tall,  muscular  man,  who  de- 
lighted in  all  forms  of  athletic  exercises.  He  was  a  fine 
rider,  a  skillful  hunter,  and  an  expert  swimmer.  His 
great  strength  and  good  health  undoubtedly  helped  him 
very  much  in  governing  his  empire. 

You  will  recall  that  the  Germans  set  aside  the  Emperor 
Augustulus  and  put  Odoacer,  one  of  their  own  chieftains, 
in  his  place.  Now,  Charlemagne  may  be  looked  upon  as 
a  successor  of  Odoacer.  On  Christmas  Day,  800,  he  was 
crowned  by  the  Pope  as  Emperor  of  the  Roman  Empire 
in  the  west,  which  was  now  in  reality  a  German  Empire. 
It  was  his  ambition  to  bring  all  the  German  peoples  to- 
gether into  one  great  Christian  empire,  and  he  was  re- 
markably successful  in  doing  this.  He  did  so  much  good 


120 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


that  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  "Hero  of  the  Middle 
Ages."  He  improved  the  government,  extended  the 
church,  and  educated  his  people.  He  urged  the  clergy  to 


CHARLEMAGNE  BEING  CROWNED  EMPEROR 

be  more  studious  themselves  and  also  to  gather  together 
the  children,  both  of  serfs  and  freemen,  and  teach  them 
to  read.  Large  numbers  of  schools  were  established  in 
this  way  and  some  of  them  became  famous.  He  also 
established  what  was  known  as  the  "School  of  the  Palace," 


THE   SPREAD   OF   CqRiSTIANHTX, •.,  ;.., 


121 


CHARLEMAGNE 


122 


INTRODUCTION'  TO   AMERICAN   HISTORY 


for  his  own  children  and  those  of  the  nobles  about  the 
court.  He  placed  an  Englishman,  named  Alcuin,  at  the 
head  of  the  school  and  imported  distinguished  men  from 
Italy  and  other  countries  as  teachers. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO   THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare  the   Roman  Empire   of   Caesar's   day  with   Charlemagne's 
Empire. 

2.  Observe  on  your  map  the  three  divisions  of  the  Empire.     Of  what 
importance  has  the  middle  division  been  in  the  recent  European  War? 

3.  What  do  we  owe  to  the  church  of  the  Middle  Ages? 

4.  The  "Book  of  Kells,"  made  by  the  monks  we  have  been  studying 
about  in  this  chapter,  is  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  book  in  the  world. 
Would  you  not  like  to  find  out  more  about  it? 

6.  Who  was  the  "Hero  of  the  Middle  Ages"?    Why? 

6.  What  great  purpose  did  the  "  Monastery  Writing  Room "  serve? 

7.  Who  said,  "  Not  Angles,  but  Angels  "? 

8.  Who  was  St.  Augustine? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Alcuin.     al'kwln  Hengist.    h£n'gtet 

Benedictine.    bgn'S-dlk'tin  Horsa.    hor'sa 

Chartres.    shar'tr' 


CHAPTER  XIII 
ALFRED    AND    THE   ENGLISH 

We  must  now  leave  the  story  of  the  continent  of  Europe 
and  go  over  to  the  British  Isles  and  see  what  was  taking 
place  there.  You  will  remember  that  the  Angles,  Saxons, 
and  Jutes  came  from  what  is  now  the  northern  part  of 
Germany  and  took  possession  of  England,  in  the  so-called 
Anglo-Saxon  conquest.  The  native  Britons  were  either 
put  to  the  sword  or  driven  over  into  Wales  or  Scotland 


ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH  123 

or  across  to  Ireland.  A  few  may  have  been  kept  as 
laborers  and  household  servants. 

These  Germans  did  not  invade  Britain  all  at  the  same 
time,  but  came  stringing  along  for  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  a  few  boat-loads  at  a  time.  Each  little  company 
had  its  own  chieftain  or  king,  so  that  England  was  not 
under  the  rule  of  one  head  but  of  many  heads.  The 
Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes,  however,  were  all  Germans, 
and  so  after  a  time  these  petty  kingdoms  began  to  unite. 
At  one  time  there  were  seven,  known  as  the  Heptarchy. 
A  little  later  the  number  was  reduced  to  three,  and  finally 
all  England  was  united  under  one  head. 

King  Alfred.  One  of  the  earliest  and  greatest  of  Eng- 
land's kings  was  Alfred.  Alfred  was  the  Charlemagne  of 
his  country  and  is  known  in  history  as  Alfred  the  Great. 
These  two  men,  Charlemagne  and  Alfred,  were  the  pillars 
of  light  in  the  Dark  Ages. 

Alfred  was  born  at  Wantage,  in  England,  in  the  year 
849.  When  a  boy  of  seven,  his  father,  who  was  king  of 
England,  took  him  on  a  visit  to  Rome.  Here  they  re- 
mained a  year  and  Alfred  was  greatly  interested  in  every- 
thing that  he  saw.  The  city,  with  its  great  buildings, 
was  much  finer  than  anything  which  he  had  ever  seen 
in  his  native  land.  Alfred  and  his  father  were  also  pre- 
sented to  the  Pope  and  received  by  him  with  great  honor. 

Alfred  was  not  a  robust  boy,  but  he  was  very  fond  of 
hunting  and  later  became  a  valiant  leader  in  war.  He 
was  also  interested  in  books  and  learning,  even  when  he 
was  quite  young.  The  story  is  told  that  his  mother  was 
accustomed  to  read  poems  to  him  and  to  his  four  brothers. 
They  were  greatly  interested  and  the  mother  promised 


124 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


a  beautiful  set  of  the  poems  to  the  boy  who  should  first 
learn  to  read.  Alfred,  though  the  youngest,  won  the 
prize.  In  those  days,  very  few  boys  —  or  men  for  that 
matter  —  outside  of  the  churches  and  monasteries  could 
read  or  even  write  their  own  names. 

At  the   age  of  twenty-two,   Alfred  became  king.    He 
took  his  duties  very  seriously.  It  is  said  that  he  gave  eight 

hours  a  day  to  sleep,  food  and 
exercise,  eight  hours  to  public 
business,  and  eight  to  religious 
and  church  work.  By  doing 
his  work  in  this  systematic 
way,  he  accomplished  a  great 
deal  in  his  comparatively  short 
lifetime. 

The  Coming  of  the  Danes. 
Alfred's  great  military  work 
was  the  fighting  of  the  Danes. 
For  many  years  before  the 
beginning  of  his  reign,  the 
Danes  had  been  coming  to 

England.    They  came  in  much 
KING  ALFRED  LEARNING  TO  READ 

the  same  way  that  the  Angles, 

Saxons,  and  Jutes  had  come  some  time  before.  The 
home  from  which  they  came  was  also  near  the  old  home 
of  the  followers  of  Hengist  and  Horsa.  The  Danes, 
too,  were  very  much  like  their  predecessors.  They  were 
barbarians  and  worshipers  of  Thor  and  Woden,  and 
being  heathens,  they  had  no  respect  for  churches  or  mon- 
asteries. These  they  plundered  on  every  hand  and  car- 
ried away  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  costly  vestments, 


ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH 


125 


ALFRED  THE  GREAT 

Alfred  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  kings  of  England.     His 
one  great  wish  was  to  be  of  service  to  his  people.     He  succeeded. 


126  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

and  jeweled  vessels.  They  also  drove  away  flocks  of 
sheep  and  took  grain  from  the  barns  for  their  food. 

At  the  time  that  Alfred  became  king,  these  pagan 
Danes  were  threatening  to  take  possession  of  all  of  England. 
Alfred  took  the  field  against  them  in  person.  He  built 
boats  and  he  has  sometimes  been  called  the  "  Father  of  the 
British  Navy."  He  also  reorganized  the  land  army,  march- 
ing one  half  of  the  men  against  the  enemy  and  leaving  the 
other  half  to  till  the  land. 

Alfred  and  the  English  fought  bravely  but  the  Danes 
drove  them  back  and  the  good  king  was  compelled  to  flee 
for  refuge  into  the  swamps  of  Somerset.  Here  he  lived 
in  the  humble  hut  of  a  cowherd,  unknown  to  the  kind 
people  who  had  given  him  protection.  One  day,  it  is  said, 
the  wife  of  the  cowherd  had  put  some  loaves  of  bread  to 
bake  over  the  open  fire  before  which  Alfred  sat,  thinking 
of  his  sad  plight  and  planning  some  method  of  escape 
for  his  people.  The  loaves  began  to  burn  and  the  odor 
of  the  burning  bread  caused  the  good  woman  to  enter  the 
room  and  upbraid  Alfred  for  his  carelessness.  "  You,  man," 
she  cried  angrily,  "you  will  not  turn  the  bread  when  you 
you  see  it  burning,  but  you  will  be  very  glad  to  eat  it 
when  it  is  done."  An  old  English  writer  puts  the  rebuke 
in  this  way: — 

"There,  don't  you  see  the  cakes  on  fire? 

Then  wherefore  turn  them  not? 
You're  glad  enough  to  eat  them 
When  they  are  piping  hot." 

The  Battle  of  Wedmore  (878).  Maintaining  this  dis- 
guise for  some  time,  Alfred  finally  completed  his  plans  for 
the  attack.  He  came  out  of  his  hiding  place,  and  rally- 


ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH  127 

ing  his  men,  defeated  the  Danes  in  the  battle  of  Wedmore 
(Wet  Moor).  He  was  not  able  to  drive  them  out  of  the 
country,  however,  and  so  he  made  a  treaty  with  them, 
giving  them  all  of  the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of 


KING  ALFRED  AND  THE  BURNING  CAKES 

England  —  a    district    which    was    later  known    as    the 
Danelaw. 

Alfred's  Works  of  Peace.  King  Alfred,  however,  was 
greater  in  peace  than  he  was  in  war  and  did  many  things 
to  improve  the  condition  of  his  people.  In  the  first  place, 
he  revised  the  laws  of  England  and  made  them  more  just 
and  uniform  than  they  had  ever  been  before.  "  Those 


128  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

which  seemed  to  me  the  most  right,"  he  said  in  speaking 
of  his  laws,  " those  I  have  gathered  together,  and  rejected 
the  others."  One  of  his  laws  was  this:  "If  any  one  dig 
a  water  pit,  or  open  one  that  is  shut  up  and  close  it  not 
again,  let  him  pay  for  whatever  cattle  may  fall  therein." 
Many  of  his  laws,  naturally  enough,  in  this  rough  age, 
had  to  do  with  criminal  offenses,  but  the  penalties  were 
merciful.  His  ambition  was  to  have  just  laws  and 
upright  judges.  He  ako  saw  to  it  that  the  laws  were  en- 
forced. It  was  said  that  if  golden  apples  grew  upon  trees 
by  the  roadside  during  Alfred's  reign,  no  one  would  dare 
to  pick  them. 

Alfred,  like  Charlemagne,  was  a  devoted  friend  of  edu- 
cation. He  established  many  schools  and  brought  in 
learned  churchmen  and  others  from  Wales,  France,  and 
Germany  to  teach  in  them.  One  famous  school  was 
attached  to  his  court  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  nobles. 
One  of  the  most  noted  teachers  brought  in  from  the 
outside  was  good  Bishop  Asser,  who  came  from  Wales. 
It  was  this  bishop  who  taught  Alfred  himself  to  read 
Latin. 

Alfred  was  also  active  in  religious  matters.  Churches 
and  monasteries  had  suffered  greatly  at  the  hands  of  the 
pillaging  Danes,  and  Alfred  set  about  vigorously  to  repair 
the  work  of  destruction.  He  rebuilt  old  churches  and 
abbeys  and  constructed  several  new  ones. 

He  also  had  the  missionary  spirit.  When  Guthrum, 
king  of  the  Danes,  was  defeated  at  Wedmore,  Alfred 
compelled  him  to  become  a  Christian.  Guthrum  was  bap- 
tized and  became  the  guest  of  Alfred  for  several  weeks, 
during  which  time  there  was  much  feasting  and  -rejoicing. 


ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH  129 

Alfred  as  an  Author.  Alfred's  services  to  literature 
were  also  notable.  Indeed,  Alfred's  writings  and  trans- 
lations have  been  called  the  beginning  of  prose  literature 
in  England.  He  learned  Latin  from  Bishop  Asser  long 
after  he  became  king,  and  translated  several  books  into 
English  and  wrote  introductions  to  them.  Among  other 
works,  he  translated  a  "  History  of  the  World. "  This  was 
a  notable  service  to  the  English  people  who  were  not  able 
to  read  Latin.  But  Alfred  was  extremely  modest  about  it. 
He  said,  "Do  not  blame  me  if  any  know  Latin  better 
than  I,  for  every  man  must  say  what  he  says  and  do  what 
he  does  according  to  his  ability."  There  was  really  no 
necessity  for  such  an  apology  as  that,  since  Alfred's 
English  style  was  excellent. 

It  is  really  difficult  to  stop  telling  about  Alfred  because 
he  did  so  many  good  things.  But  what  he  was  was  just 
as  important  as  what  he  did.  He  was  a  lovable,  devout, 
simple,  and  sincere  man.  A  recent  writer  says,  "In  all  the 
records  of  him  that  exist,  there  is  not  a  single  statement 
that  puts  a  blemish  upon  his  great  and  good  character." 
He  died  in  the  year  901,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  and  now 
lies  buried  in  Winchester  Cathedral  in  southern  England. 

Canute  Becomes  King  (1017).  We  have  noticed  that 
Alfred  defeated  the  Danes  at  Wedmore  but  that  he  was 
not  able  to  expel  them  from  England.  According  to  a 
treaty  which  he  made  with  them,  they  were  to  occupy 
the  Danelaw  and  to  acknowledge  him  as  then*  overlord. 
This  arrangement  seemed  to  work  well  and  the  wild  Danes 
were  being  tamed.  They  were  adopting  the  manners  and 
customs  of  civilized  life  and  were  becoming  more  like 
Alfred's  people. 


130  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Things  went  well  during  the  lifetime  of  Alfred,  but  one 
of  his  successors  was  a  weak  king,  called  Ethelred  the 
Unready.  In  Ethelred's  time,  a  great  horde  of  Danes 
came  and  set  about  to  take  possession  of  the  entire  country. 
Ethelred  did  not  care  to  fight  as  Alfred  had  done  so  he 
bought  off  the  Danes;  that  is,  he  gave  them  money  on 
condition  that  they  leave  England.  They  did  leave  En- 
gland according  to  their  agreement — but  they  returned  the 
very  next  year  and  in  greater  numbers  than  ever.  The 
result  was  that  not  many  years  after,  Ethelred  and  his 
family  were  compelled  to  flee  from  England  and  the  Danes 
placed  one  of  their  number,  King  Canute,  upon  the  throne. 

Canute  was  now  king  of  England  and  Denmark  at  the 
same  time  and,  although  he  had  a  very  difficult  task  to 
perform,  he  did  remarkably  well.  He  ruled  England  for 
eighteen  years  in  a  kind  and  fatherly  way  and  treated  his 
English  subjects  just  as  well  as  he  did  the  Danes. 

While  Canute  was  a  just  and  fair  man,  however,  he 
expected  to  be  obeyed.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion 
the  king  seated  himself  on  the  beach  and  noticed  that  the 
tide  was  rising  and  coming  in  his  direction.  He  com- 
manded it  to  stop  in  these  words:  "0  Sea,  I  am  thy  lord. 
My  ships  sail  over  thee  whither  I  will,  and  this  land 
against  which  thou  breakest  is  mine;  stay  thou  thy  waves, 
and  dare  not  wet  the  feet  of  thy  lord  and  master."  But 
the  tide  came  in  and  wet  the  royal  feet  and  Canute  was 
so  chagrined  that  he  vowed  he  would  never  wear  the  crown 
again. 

But  while  Canute  was  a  wise  and  good  king,  his  two 
sons  who  succeeded  him  were  very  different  from  their 
father  and  upon  the  death  of  the  second  of  these,  in  1042, 


ALFRED  AND  THE  ENGLISH 


131 


the  Danish  line  came  to  an  end.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
other  man  of  the  Danish  royal  house  who  would  make  a 
good  king  and  so  the  Witan,  the  assembly  of  the  wise 
men,  chose  Edward,  son  of  Ethelred  the  Unready,  to  be 
the  king  of  England. 

The  Northmen  in  America.    We  have  noticed  that  the 


KING  CANUTE  AND  His  COURTIERS 

Angles,  Saxons,  Jutes,  and  Danes  were  swarming  out  of 
their  homes  and  making  new  homes  in  other  lands. 
While  the  Danes  were  taking  possession  of  England, 
their  kinsmen  from  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  were  also 
roving  the  seas.  These  sea-rovers  are  called  Vikings,  not 
because  they  were  kings,  but  because  they  lived  on  a  vik, 
or  bay.  They  plowed  the  seas  in  long,  swift,  canoe-like 
boats  with  high  prows,  sometimes  bearing  the  head  of  a 


132 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


dragon  or  other  animal.  Their  boats  were  driven  partly 
by  sails  and  partly  by  oars.  The  shields  of  the  rowers 
were  hung  over  the  side  of  the  boat  and  the  hardy  Vikings 
sometimes  escaped,  after  being  defeated  in  a  sea-fight,  by 
swimming  away  under  the  protection  of  their  huge  shields. 
It  was  a  band  of  these  Vikings,  usually  called  North- 


NORSEMEN  LANDING  IN  AMERICA 

men,  or  Norsemen,  who  came  to  America  about  five  hun- 
dred years  before  Columbus  did.  Leif  Ericson,  known  as 
Leif  the  Lucky,  after  stopping  at  Iceland  and  Greenland, 
where  his  people  had  already  founded  colonies,  sailed  to 
the  coast  of  North  America.  He  named  the  place  "Vin- 
land,"  because  of  the  abundance  of  wild  grapes  which  he 
found  there.  Leif  and  his  companions,  about  thirty  in 
number,  spent  the  winter  hi  Vinland  and  founded  a  colony. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS  133 

Their  colony  was  abandoned  later  and  no  trace  of  it  has 
ever  been  found.  In  fact,  its  exact  location  is  still  a 
mystery,  but  it  was  probably  somewhere  within  the  pres- 
ent boundaries  of  Rhode  Island  or  Massachusetts. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Why  are  Charlemagne  and  Alfred  called  "the  pillars  of  light  hi  the 
Dark  Ages"? 

2.  Could  you  see  in  Rome  to-day  any  of  the  great  buildings  Alfred  saw 
more  than  a  thousand  years  ago? 

3.  What  do  you  think  was  Alfred's  greatest  service  to  England? 

4.  Did  Alfred  do  anything  which  is  of  benefit  to  us  at  the  present  tune? 

5.  Why  do  we  not  give  credit  to  Leif  Ericson  and  the  Northmen  for 
the  Discovery  of  America,  rather  than  to  Columbus? 

6.  Name  some  of  the  kings  who  succeeded  Alfred.    What  did  Alfred's 
influence  and  contact  with  the  Pagan  Danes  do  for  this  people? 

7.  What  was  "The  Witan"? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Asser.     &s'er  Wantage.    w6n'taj 

Canute,    kd-nut'  Witan.    wlt'dn 

Guthrum.    guth'rum 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE    COMING    OF   THE    NORMANS 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  still  another  inva- 
sion from  the  north.  While  the  Danes  were  swooping 
down  upon  England,  other  Northmen  from  the  Scan- 
dinavian peninsula  were  ravaging  the  northern  coast  of 
France.  Finally,  these  sea-rovers  and  pirates  became 
bolder  and  in  845  they  sailed  up  the  Seine  River  and 
captured  the  city  of  Paris.  They  plundered  and  laid 
waste  the  country  in  exactly  the  same  way  that  the  Danes 


134  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

did  in  England.  Finally,  one  of  the  kings  of  France, 
known  in  history  as  Charles  the  Simple,  made  a  bargain 
with  them  very  much  like  that  which  Alfred  had  made 
with  the  Danes,  a  few  years  before.  He  gave  to  the  Norse 
leader,  Hollo  or  Rolf,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of  France  on  condition 
that  he  and  his  men  promise  to  aid  him  in  war  and  also 
to  accept  the  Christian  religion.  This  was  agreed  to  by 
the  Northmen  (912)  and  they  settled  down  in  their  rich 
and  pleasant  country  and  became  very  prosperous.  They 
also  laid  aside  their  barbarous  ways  and  adopted  the  lan- 
guage and  the  refined  manners  and  customs  of  the  French. 
Their  country  took  the  name  Normandy  and  they  them- 
selves came  to  be  called  Normans. 

Edward  "  The  Confessor."  Now  let  us  go  back  to 
England  for  a  moment.  We  have  already  noticed  that 
Edward,  the  son  of  Ethelred  the  Unready,  was  elected 
king  of  England  by  the  wise  men  to  succeed  the  last  of  the 
Danish  kings  (1042).  Edward  was  well  liked  by  everyone, 
but  he  was  not  a  strong  king.  He  was  thirty  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  the  throne  and  twenty-five  of  those 
years  had  been  spent  in  Normandy.  He  was  really  more 
of  a  Norman  than  an  Englishman  and  he  brought  with 
him  a  host  of  relatives,  noblemen,  and  other  friends  from 
Normandy  to  fill  the  high  offices  in  England. 

While  Edward  was  a  timid  man,  he  was  also  a  very 
religious  one  and  came  to  be  known  as  Edward  "The  Con- 
fessor," or  Edward  "The  Saint."  The  most  notable  thing 
which  he  did  was  the  founding  of  Westminster  Abbey  in 
the  city  of  London.  The  Abbey  was  a  Christian  church 
and  monastery  combined,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS 


135 


famous  buildings  in  the  world.  Edward  lies  buried  in 
this  Abbey,  as  do  scores  of  England's  most  famous  men, 
including  Tennyson  and  Gladstone. 

The  Norman  Conquest  (1066).  After  a  mild  reign  of 
twenty-four  years,  Edward  died  in  the  year  1066.  Upon 
his  death-bed  he 
recommended  as  his 
successor  a  great 
warrior  and  states- 
man, named  Harold. 
Harold,  however, 
was  not  a  member 
of  the  royal  family, 
and  yet  upon  the 
following  day,  the 
Witan,  or  the  wise 
men,  met  and  elec- 
ted him  King  of 
England. 

William  the  Con- 
queror.  At  this 
time,  William  was 
the  Duke,  or  the 
leader  of  the  Nor- 
mans. He  was  Edward  the  Confessor's  first  cousin  and 
claimed  that  Edward  had  promised  the  crown  to  him 
upon  his  death.  It  is  probable  that  Edward  had  done 
so,  but  the  crown  was  really  not  his  to  give,  and  appar- 
ently Edward  changed  his  mind  before  he  died.  William 
also  claimed  that  Harold  had  promised  to  help  him  to 
become  king  of  England.  William  was  very  angry  when 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 


136 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


he  heard  that  Edward  had  died  and  that  Harold  had  been 
made  king.  He  was  hunting  when  the  news  came  to  him, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  become  "speechless  with  rage." 
He  dropped  his  bow  and  made  ready  to  lead  an  army 
into  England. 

Harold  knew  perfectly  well  that  William  would  come  to 
England  to  measure  swords  with  him  and  so  he  placed  an 

army  on  the  southern  coast 
of  England  to  watch  for  his 
coming.  Several  months 
passed  by  and  William  failed 
to  appear.  Finally,  when 
the  harvest  time  came,  Har- 
old's army,  made  up  largely 
of  farmers,  went  to  their 
homes  to  gather  in  the  grain. 
The  coast  was  thus  left 
without  defenders,  and  when 
William  finally  appeared  in 
September,  he  landed  his 


Route  of 
William  the  Conqueror 


NORMANDY  AND  SOUTHEAST 
ENGLAND  IN  1066 


men     without      opposition. 
Harold,    however,    came    a 
little  later  to  meet  him,  and 
at    Senlac,   near   Hastings,   in   southern 
their  bows  and    arrows, 


the  armies  met 
England.  The  Normans,  with 
were  making  ready  to  meet  the  Saxons  with  their  battle- 
axes.  When  William  was  putting  on  his  armor,  he  put 
the  back  side  of  it  in  front.  His  men  were  alarmed  as 
they  thought  that  a  very  bad  omen.  William,  however, 
was  equal  to  the  occasion  and  remarked  as  he  was 
making  the  change  that  he  thought  it  a  very  good  omen, 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS 


137 


for  on  that  day  a  Norman  Duke  was  to  be  changed  into 
an  English  king. 

The  Battle  of  Senlac  (October  14,  1066).  The  battle 
was  long  and  hard.  It  lasted  all  day,  with  great  loss  of 

life.    Harold  was    

killed  and  the  Eng- 
lish were  put  to 
flight.  As  soon  as 
Harold  lay  dead 
upon  the  field,  Wil- 
liam became  the 
master  of  England 
and  it  is  said  that 
he  sat  quietly  down 
among  the  dead  on 
the  battlefield  to  eat 
and  drink.  The  vis- 
itor to  this  battle- 
field now  sees  the 
remains  of  what  was 
once  apparently  an 
imposing  building. 
These  ruins  are  all 
that  remain  of  an 

abbey  built  by  William  to  commemorate  his  victory, 
ruins  stand  on  the  spot  where  Harold  fell. 

William  Made  King  of  England.  After  his  great  vic- 
tory at  Senlac,  William  marched  north,  crossed  the 
Thames  River,  and  established  his  camp  a  few  miles  from 
the  city  of  London.  While  here,  noblemen,  churchmen, 
and  others  came  out  from  London,  and  invited  him  to 


WILLIAM  THE  CONQUEROR  REVIEWING  His 
TROOPS 


The 


138  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

come  into  the  city  and  be  crowned.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  William  accepted  the  invitation  and  entered  the  city. 
On  Christmas  Day,  1066,  he  was  elected  king  by  the 
Witan  and  crowned  in  the  famous  Abbey  founded  by 
Edward  the  Confessor. 

William  the  Conqueror  thus  became  the  founder  of  a 
new  line  of  kings,  known  as  the  Norman  kings.  Many 
Normans  also  came  to  England  with  William  and  made 
their  homes  there.  This  brought  about  a  number  of 
changes  in  English  life.  New  words  were  introduced  into 
the  English  language  and  changes  were  made  in  the  laws 
and  in  the  church.  The  coming  of  the  Normans  was  a 
good  thing  for  England  in  many  ways.  The  Normans 
were  more  refined  and  polished  than  the  English,  and  the 
combination  of  " Norman  brightness  and  charm"  added 
to  " English  solidity  and  strength"  proved  to  be  a  remark- 
ably good  one. 

We  should  remember,  however,  that  the  main  stream  of 
civilization  in  England  still  continued  to  be  English  and 
not  Norman.  The  civilization  of  England  is  a  mixed  one. 
The  early  Britons  gave  something  to  it;  the  Romans  did 
also;  the  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes  made  their  contribu- 
tion; the  Danes  made  theirs;  and,  finally,  came  the 
Normans  with  their  valuable  contribution.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  elements,  however,  is  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  see  later. 

The  Reign  of  William.  William  was  a  very  stern  and 
harsh  ruler  but,  on  the  whole,  a  very  good  one.  A  strong 
hand  was  needed  in  England  at  that  time  to  keep  the 
nobles  in  check.  When  William  gave  an  order,  he  insisted 
upon  being  obeyed.  "He  was  so  harsh  and  cruel,"  says  an 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS 


139 


old  writer,  "that  no  one  dared  withstand  him."  In  order 
to  keep  his  people  in  subjection,  he  built  fortresses  in 
every  town  of  importance,  which  he  put  in  charge  of  his 
own  men.  The  most  noted  of  these  is  the  famous  Tower 
still  standing  in  the  city  of  London. 

"  The  New  Forest."  In  some  ways  William  was  selfish 
and  unjust.  Next  to  war,  he  loved  hunting,  and  in  order 
to  have  large  shoot- 
ing grounds,  well 
stocked  with  game, 
he  established  what 
is  known  as  "The 
New  Forest."  This 
•was  in  Hampshire  in 
the  southeastern 
part  of  England. 
Here,  in  order  to 
make  room  for  his 
deer  and  other  game, 
he  drove  the  people 
from  their  homes 
and  destroyed  their 
villages.  He  seemed  to  care  more  for  his  game  than  for 
his  people,  and  it  is  said  that  "he  loved  the  tall  deer  as 
though  he  had  been  their  father." 

William  the  Conqueror  died  after  ruling  England  for 
twenty-one  years;  and  when  he  died  it  was  found  to  be 
very  difficult  to  purchase  six  feet  of  earth  for  him  for  a 
grave,  because  the  people  disliked  him  so  much. 

William  the  Second.  William  the  Conqueror  was  suc- 
ceeded on  the  English  throne  by  one  of  his  sons,  known  as 


THE  TOWER  OF  LONDON 

The  London  Tower  was  a  kind  of  fortress  and 
prison  combined,  located  on  the  Thames  River. 
Many  noted  men  and  women  were  imprisoned 
in  this  building.  It  is  now  used  as  a  military 
museum  and  as  a  barracks  for  the  soldiers. 


140  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

William  Rufus,  or  William  the  Red,  on  account  of  his  big 
red  face.  This  William  was  a  good  soldier  and  a  skillful 
hunter  and  kept  his  nobles  in  fairly  good  order,  but  not 
much  else  that  is  good  can  be  said  of  him.  He  was  vain 
and  extravagant  and  spent  the  people's  money  very  freely 
for  his  own  base  pleasures.  He  was  also  cruel  and  his 
habits  were  not  good;  so  that  when  a  charcoal  man 
brought  his  body  in  his  cart  from  the  New  Forest  to 
Winchester  for  burial,  there  were  no  tears  shed  over  it. 

Henry  II.  Some  of  the  early  kings  of  England  were 
good  and  some  bad  but  one  of  them,  Henry  the  Second 
(1154-1189),  was  particularly  wise  and  just.  Although 
Henry  was  a  wise  and  good  king,  his  last  years  were  full 
of  sadness.  Men  rebelled  against  him  and  his  sons  were, 
among  the  number.  When  he  found  the  name  of  John, 
his  favorite  son,  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  those  arrayed 
against  him  he  gave  up  the  fight.  "Now  let  things  go  as 
they  will,"  he  said  in  sorrow,  "I  care  no  more  for  myself 
or  the  world/'  A  few  weeks  later  he  died  —  some  said 
of  a  broken  heart. 

King  Richard  the  Lion-hearted.  The  good  Henry  was 
succeeded  on  the  throne  of  England  by  his  son  Richard, 
the  famous  crusader,  known  in  history  as  "Richard  the 
Lion-hearted."  The  new  king  was  thirty-two  years  of 
age,  tall,  handsome,  and  kingly  in  bearing,  and  was  soon 
looked  upon  as  a  national  hero.  He  was  a  fine  soldier,  a 
good  speaker,  and  a  man  of  great  muscular  strength  and 
courage.  B~  '  he  also  had  a  terrible  temper  and  was  cruel 
and  not  always  honest  and  truthful. 

In  one  sense,  Richard's  reign  is  not  important  but,  in 
another  sense,  it  is.  Richard  was  king  of  England  for 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORMANS 


141 


ten  years,  but  spent  only  eight  months  of  that  time  in 
England.  The  rest  of  the  time  he  was  on  the  continent 
of  Europe  or  in  the  Holy  Land  leading  Crusades  by  which 
it  was  hoped  to  wrest  Jerusalem  and  the  sepulchre  of 
Christ  from  the  hands  of  the  infidel  Turks.  He  cared 
little  for  England.  There  is  an  old  saying  that  while  the 
cat  is  away  the  mice  will  play.  And  so  while  Richard 
was  away  on  the  Crusades, 
or  the  "Holy  Wars  of  the 
Cross,"  the  people  of  En- 
gland began  to  think  of  their 
rights  and  liberties  and  to 
desire  a  part  in  the  govern- 
ment. A  few  years  later,  as 
we  shall  soon  see,  these 
desires  bore  rich  and  abun- 
dant fruit. 

Richard  had  a  wild  and 
turbulent  career.  After 
squeezing  all  the  money  that 

he  could  out  of  his   English       RICHARD  "THE  LION  HEARTED," 

.  KING  OF  ENGLAND 

subjects,  he    set    out    with 

the  crusaders  for  the  Holy  Land;  and  while  he  did  not 
succeed  in  capturing  Jerusalem,  his  marvelous  feats  of 
strength  and  daring  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
people  of  the  East.  He  became  a  kind  of  bogey-man  and 
for  centuries  Arab  mothers  were  accustpmed  to  frighten 
their  children  into  silence  by  saying,  "Hush,  here  comes 
King  Richard." 

On  his  way  home  from  Palestine,  his  ship  was  wrecked 
upon   the   coast   of   Italy.    Richard   then   determined   to 


142  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

continue  his  journey  overland.  He  put  on  a  disguise  and 
announced  himself  as  "Hugh,  the  merchant/7  wherever  he 
went.  He  did  this  because  he  was  afraid  of  falling  into 
the  hands  of  enemies.  Finally,  his  identity  became  known 
and  he  was  cast  into  prison  where  he  remained  for  a  year. 
He  was  at  last  released  upon  the  payment  of  an  enormous 
ransom  by  the  people  of  England. 

He  then  returned  home  and  was  received  with  wild 
enthusiasm  as  a  popular  hero.  But  in  two  months  he  was 
off  again '  fighting  against  the  King  of  France  and  others. 
Finally  the  news  came  to  him  that  a  large  amount  of  gold 
had  been  found  buried  on  an  estate  in  southern  France. 
Richard  immediately  appeared  upon  the  scene  and  de- 
manded a  large  share  of  it.  Upon  being  refused,  he  laid 
siege  to  the  castle  and  determined  to  take  the  money  by 
force.  One  day,  while  riding  his  horse  near  the  castle, 
he  was  struck  by  an  arrow  from  the  wall  and  mortally 
wounded.  A  short  time  after,  and  before  the  king  died, 
the  castle  surrendered  and  Richard  hi  a  fierce  outburst 
of  temper,  ordered  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
within  the  castle  should  be  killed  except  the  man  who 
shot  the  fatal  arrow.  Calling  this  unfortunate  man  be- 
fore him,  he  asked,  "What  have  I  done  to  you  that  you 
should  kill  me?"  "You  have  killed  my  father  and  my 
two  brothers  and  have  taken  all  their  property, "  was  the 
prompt  reply.  The  man  was  set  free.  A  short  time  after, 
Richard  died  and  was  buried  at  the  side  of  his  father 
in  Westminster  Abbey. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Read  in  any  good  encyclopedia  a  description  of  the  Tower  of  London, 
or  of  Westminster  Abbey,  and  report  to  the  class.  Try  to  make  clear  the 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  ENGLISH  LIBERTY  143 

age,  size,  and  historical  importance  of  the  Abbey.  Be  sure  to  tell  the  class 
about  the  coronation  chair  and  the  "Stone  of  Scone."  Make  clear  how 
different  the  Abbey  is  from  our  churches.  There  in  the  Poet's  corner  is 
the  bust  of  one  of  our  great  poets,  one  whom  you  know  and  love.  See 
if  you  can  find  out  who  he  is. 

2.  Why  was  it  necessary  for  William  the  Conqueror  to  use  harsher 
methods  than  did  Alfred? 

3.  Why  is  the  Norman  Conquest  a  turning  point  in  English  history? 

4.  Name  some  of  the  notable  characteristics  of  Richard  "The  Lion- 
hearted."    Why  was  he  so  called? 

6.  Can  you  tell  the  difference  between  the  Normans  and  the  Danes? 
Were  they  relatives?    What  did  each  bring  to  England? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Arab.    £r'&b  Scandinavian.     skan'dl-na'vlWtn 

Jerusalem.    j£-r66'sci-lem  Seine,    sail 


CHAPTER  XV 

KING    JOHN    AND    THE    FIGHT    FOR    ENGLISH 
LIBERTY 

As  soon  as  the  lion-hearted  Richard  had  breathed  his 
last,  his  younger  brother,  John,  became  king  of  England. 
It  is  not  a  pleasant  task  to  tell  the  story  of  King  John,  as 
he  was  the  worst  king  that  ever  sat  on  the  English  throne. 
John  had  been  disloyal  to  his  father,  Henry,  and,  as  we 
read  in  the  last  chapter,  had  brought  that  good  king  in 
sorrow  to  his  grave;  and  when  his  brother  Richard  was 
fighting  for  the  Holy  Land,  he  tried  to  get  his  kingdom 
away  from  him.  He  had  a  bad  reputation  before  he  be- 
came king  and,  when  he  ascended  the  throne,  he  more  than 
lived  up  to  it. 

John  had  trouble  with  the  king  of  France,  the  Pope, 
and  almost  everyone  else  that  he  had  any  dealings  with. 


144  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

The  king  of  France  seized  John's  French  possessions  and 
when  John  called  upon  his  barons  to  march  with  him  to 
recover  them,  they  refused  to  do  so. 

John  and  the  Pope  quarreled  over  the  appointment  of 
an  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  John  wanted  one  man  and 
the  Pope  favored  another.  John  was  stubborn  and  the 
Pope  placed  England  under  the  Interdict;  that  is,  he 
prohibited  all  church  services  in  that  country.  There 
was  to  be  no  church  bell,  no  marriage,  no  funeral,  no  mass. 
He  also  declared  John  excommunicated,  or  cast  out  of  the 
Roman  Church.  To  cap  the  climax,  he  took  the  kingdom 
away  from  John  and  then  gave  it  back  to  him  on  condi- 
tion that  he  pay  the  Pope  one  thousand  pounds  per  year 
for  it.  John  agreed  to  all  of  these  humiliating  conditions 
and  the  money  was  actually  paid  for  a  number  of  years. 

John  kept  on  going  from  bad  to  worse,  until  finally  the 
nobles  and  clergy  thought  the  tune  had  come  to  call, 
"Halt." 

The  Great  Charter  (1215).  A  large  number  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  England  had  a  meeting  to  talk  over  their 
grievances.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  would 
compel  the  king,  by  force  of  arms  if  necessary,  to  govern 
England  according  to  the  old  and  historic  laws.  The 
demand  was  made  and  John  refused  it  without  considera- 
tion. His  opponents,  however,  were  not  to  be  put  aside. 
They  marched  upon  London,  gathering  strength  as  they 
went,  and  when  they  reached  that  city,  they  found  the 
gates  thrown  open  to  them.  The  nobles,  clergy,  and 
common  people  —  all  but  a  few  personal  friends  —  had 
deserted  John  and  he  was  compelled  much  against  his  will 
to  accept  the  terms  submitted  to  him. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  ENGLISH  LIBERTY  145 

John  met  his  people  on  a  small  island  in  the  Thames 
River,  near  Runnymede,  and  signed  the  Great  Charter 
(Magna  Charta)  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1215.  This 
Charter  was  a  very  bitter  pill  for  the  king  to  swallow  and 
it  is  said  that  John  was  speechless  with  rage  and  tore  his 
hair  when  about  to  sign  it.  Another  account  says  that  he 
expressed  his  feelings  by  rolling  on  the  floor  and  gnawing 
a  stick. 

This  Charter  is  the  most  important  document  in  English 
history  and  Englishmen  prize  it  greatly.  It  is  as  important 
to  the  English  as  our  Declaration  of  Independence  is  to  us. 
In  fact,  it  is  a  sort  of  Declaration  of  Independence  and  it 
has  been  called  "the  corner-stone  of  English  history." 

There  is  nothing  new  in  the  Great  Charter.  It  simply 
contained  a  statement  of  old  rights  and  liberties.  Some 
of  the  kings,  and  John  in  particular,  seemed  to  forget  that 
the  people  had  any  rights  and  the  Great  Charter  proved 
to  be  an  excellent  reminder.  Some  of  its  more  important 
provisions  may  be  stated  as  follows: 

I.  No  tax  shall  be  levied  in  the  kingdom  without  the 
consent  of  the  people. 

II.  No  one  shall  be  imprisoned  or  banished  or  pun- 
ished in  any  way,  unless  convicted  by  a  jury  of  his  fellow- 
citizens. 

III.  To  no  one  will  we  sell,  to  no  one  will  we  deny  or 
delay  right  or  justice. 

These  provisions  meant  that  in  the  future,  when  a  king 
wanted  money,  he  would  have  to  ask  the  people  for  it 
and  not  simply  levy  a  tax  as  John  and  Richard  had  done 
without  consulting  anybody. 

Some  kings  also  threw  men  into  prison  and  kept  them 


146  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

there  for  years  without  any  trial  at  all,  or,  in  some  in- 
stances, after  a  very  unfair  trial.  The  Great  Charter  now 
provided  that  a  man  accused  of  crime  should  have  a  speedy 
trial  before  a  jury  and  should  not  be  compelled  to  bribe 
the  judges  in  order  to  escape  unjust  punishment. 
,  John,  of  course,  never  had  any  thought  of  living  up  to 
the  Charter  and  said  so  plainly  a  short  time  after  signing 
it.  He  knew  that  he  would  have  to  fight,  so  he  hired 
some  soldiers  to  fight  against  his  own  people.  Defeat  was 
staring  John  in  the  face  when  his  end  came.  The  exact 
cause  of  his  death  is  not  known.  It  may  be  that  a  large 
quantity  of  peaches  and  beer  which  he  consumed  did  not 
agree  with  the  royal  stomach.  Some  say  that  he  was 
poisoned  by  an  enemy.  However,  the  cruel  and  despotic 
John  passed  off  the  scene  and  very  few  tears  were  shed. 

The  House  of  Commons  (1265).  When  John  died,  he 
had  a  little  son  named  Henry,  who  was  nine  years  of  age. 
This  little  lad  became  king  of  England  and  was  crowned 
Henry  the  Third.  During  the  early  part  of  his  reign, 
of  course,  he  had  no  part  in  the  government,  but  when  he 
became  a  man,  he  wanted  to  have  his  own  way  about 
everything.  He  resembled  his  father  in  many  ways.  He 
was  a  chip  off  the  old  block  and  did  not  seem  to  learn 
anything  from  the  disastrous  experiences  of  his  father. 

He  was  more  French  than  English  and  loved  to  have 
foreigners  in  office  and  about  his  court.  He  also  lavished 
money  and  favors  upon  them.  This  money  he  wrung 
from  the  people  in  the  form  of  taxes.  There  was  a  clause 
against  this  in  the  Great  Charter  which  he  had  taken 
a  solemn  oath  to  uphold.  But  that  did  not  seem  to  worry 
Henry  very  much. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  ENGLISH  LIBERTY  147 

Henry  was  also  more  obedient  to  the  Pope  of  Rome 
than  most  of  his  people  wished  to  see  him.  They  pre- 
ferred to  be  more  independent. 

Simon  de  Montfort.  Just  at  this  time,  a  great  man 
appeared  as  the  champion  of  the  people  against  the  king. 
This  man  was  Simon  de  Montfort,  sometimes  called  Earl 
Simon.  Earl  Simon  was  a  member  of  an  old  French 
family  which  had  come  to  England  some  time  before, 
and  he  had  married  the  sister  of  the  king.  He  was 
called  Simon  the  Righteous.  An  old  English  ballad  runs, 
"He  hates  the  wrong,  he  loves  the  right."  Earl  Simon 
had  his  faults,  many  of  them,  but  he  was  a  brave  man 
and  a  lover  of  liberty  and  a  fine  soldier. 

When  King  Henry  became  unbearable,  the  people  tried 
to  put  some  restrictions  upon  him  as  they  had  upon  his 
father  at  Runnymede.  It  was  all  to  no  avail,  however, 
so  the  noble  Earl  raised  an  army  and  took  the  field  against 
him.  The  battle  was  fought  in  southeastern  England. 
Earl  Simon  was  victorious  and  captured  the  king  and  the 
entire  royal  family. 

With  the  king  in  his  power,  Simon  de  Montfort  had 
control  of  the  entire  government.  He  made  one  change 
which  proved  to  be  of  great  importance.  The  Great 
Council  which  represented  the  people  in  the  government 
was  composed  up  to  this  time  of  nobles  and  clergymen, 
exclusively.  Earl  Simon  said  that  the  common  people, 
the  plain  citizens  without  titles,  should  also  have  a  voice 
in  the  government.  And  so  he  called  a  meeting  of  Par- 
liament, as  the  Great  Council  was  now  coming  to  be 
called.  To  this  Parliament  he  invited  the  nobles,  the 
clergy,  and  the  common  people  as  well.  This  was  the  be- 


148 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


ginning  of  the   House  of  Commons  in  England  (1265)  and 
Simon  de  Montfort  was  its  founder. 

Parliament.  The  word  "  parliament "  comes  from  a 
French  word  which  means  to  speak.  It  therefore  means 
a  place  where  things  are  spoken  about  or  discussed  and 


HOUSES  OF  PARLIAMENT 

This  beautiful  building  covers  eight  acres  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  River 
in  London.  It  is  the  home  of  England's  law-making  body. 

debated.  When  the  commoners  first  appeared  in  Parlia- 
ment, they  were  snubbed  and  scoffed  at  and  did  not  have 
much  influence.  At  first,  they  sat  in  the  same  room  and 
debated  matters  of  government  with  the  nobles  and  clergy. 
But,  after  a  time,  they  sat  in  a  chamber  by  themselves  and 
came  to  be  called  the  House  of  Commons,  while  the  cham- 
ber made  up  of  the  nobles  and  clergy  came  to  be  called 
the  House  of  Lords.  These  two  Houses  now  constitute 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN   THE  MIDDLE  AGES  149 

the  governing  body  of  England  and  correspond  to  our 
Congress,  which  also  consists  of  two  houses,  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  the  Senate. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  We  in  the  United  States  take  it  for  granted  that  the  people  shall 
rule.    You  see  in  this  chapter  at  what  cost  this  right  was  maintained,  which 
to  these  people  was  as  dear  as  it  is  to  us.    You  know,  of  course,  that  this 
struggle  of  the  people  is  an  old,  old  one  and  that  it  is  still  going  on  hi  many 
countries  to-day. 

2.  What  effect  do  you  think  this  successful  resistance  by  the  people 
of  England  had,  when  at  a  later  date  their  rights  were  seriously  threatened? 

3.  When  another  tyrannical  King  of  England  trespassed  on  the  sacred 
rights  of  the  English  Colonies  in  North  America  they  resisted  and  won 
their  independence.    This  was  the  beginning  of  the  United  States. 

4.  Is  the  Magna  Charta  of  any  importance  to  Americans? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Parliament.    par'W-m&it  Simon  de  Montf ort.   si'mon  de  m6nt' 

Runnymede.     run'I-med  f6rt 

Thames,     t&nz 


CHAPTER  XVI 
ENGLISH   LIFE   IN   THE    MIDDLE   AGES 

The  Romans  loved  the  city;  the  Germans  the  open 
country.  While  the  Romans  had  possession  of  the  em- 
pire, it  was  dotted  from  end  to  end  with  cities  and  towns. 
The  Romans  loved  city  life  and  found  their  greatest  en- 
joyment and  culture  within  city  walls. 

When  the  Germans  overran  the  empire,  however,  a 
great  change  took  place.  Many  of  the  cities  were  de- 
stroyed during  the  German  invasions  and  many  more  were 
abandoned  and  left  to  tumble  into  ruins.  A  few  great 


150  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

cities,  like  London,  continued  to  the  present  day  and,  as 
civilization  advanced,  new  cities  were  built  or  old  ones 
were  revived.  Near  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
city  was  an  important  factor  in  the  civilization  of  the  time. 

The  City  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  city  was  the  center 
of  the  best  civilization  and  the  greatest  activity.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  the  home  of  art.  Here  was  to  be  found 
the  best  in  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting.  The  city 
seemed  almost  like  a  fairy  land,  with  its  gild  halls,  palaces, 
cathedrals,  and  ornamental  gateways. 

The  city  was  also  prominent  in  trade  and  commerce 
with  distant  points.  Such  cities  as  Antioch,  Genoa,  and 
Venice  were  extremely  important  commercial  centers. 
And  it  should  be  remembered  that  commerce  consisted  of 
an  interchange  of  ideas  as  well  as  an  interchange  of  goods. 

The  city  also,  in  connection  with  the  university,  became 
the  home  of  education.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  En- 
gland's oldest  and  most  famous  universities.  Oxford  was 
probably  founded  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second,  to 
whom  we  have  already  referred,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most 
noted  institutions  of  learning  in  the  world.  It  is  made 
up  of  twenty-four  or  twenty-five  different  colleges,  situated 
in  the  beautiful  and  interesting  old  city  of  Oxford.  The 
colleges  were  founded  at  different  times,  some  of  them 
being  added  in  quite  recent  years.  Each  college  has  its 
own  courses  of  study,  its  own  athletic  teams  and  boat 
crews,  and  maintains  its  independent  individuality  in  many 
ways.  The  athletic  contests  between  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge Universities  are  among  the  great  events  of  the  year. 
The  teams  competing  in  these  contests  are  made  up  of  che 
picked  men  from  the  different  colleges. 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


151 


The  city  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  small  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  present  day.  London  had  twenty-five  thou- 
sand people,  while  the  ordinary  city  had  from  fifteen 
hundred  to  four  thousand.  Some  of  these,  like  the 

famous  old   city  of   i __ __ 

Chester,  near  Liver- 
pool,  were  very 
picturesque,  as  they 
nestled  behind  their 
strong  walls. 

The  Gilds.  The 
most  important  or- 
ganization of  the 
medieval  city  was 
the  gild.  The  Mer- 
chant Gild  was  made 
up  of  merchants, 
land  owners,  trad- 
ers, and  others,  en- 
gaged in  similar  pur- 
suits. The  purpose 
of  the  gild  was  to 
promote  the  welfare 
of  its  members  along 

all  lines.  The  gilds  sometimes  did  works  of  charity.  One 
of  the  laws  or  rules  of  the  gild  was  this:  "If  any  of  the 
brethren  shall  fall  into  poverty  or  misery,  all  the  brethren 
are  to  assist  him  by  common  consent  out  of  the  chattels  of 
the  house  or  fraternity,  or  of  their  proper  own."  It  was 
also  provided  that  when  a  member  died,  his  fellow  gildsmen 
should  "bear  the  body  and  bring  it  to  the  place  of  burial." 


A  SECTION  OF  A  MEDIEVAL  CITY 


152  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Another  kind  of  gild  was  the  Craft  Gild.  These  craft  gilds 
were  made  up  of  such  craftsmen  as  the  millers,  bakers,  shoe- 
makers, dyers,  skinners,  weavers,  and  the  like.  Sometimes 
there  were  as  many  as  fifty  different  kinds  of  craft  gilds 
in  the  same  city.  You  have  probably  come  to  the  con- 
clusion by  this  time  that  these  gilds  were  somewhat  like 
the  labor  unions  of  the  present  day.  They  regulated  wages 
and  the  hours  of  labor.  They  prohibited  working  at  night 
hi  certain  crafts  and  devoted  large  sums  to  the  work  of 
charity  among  their  members. 

While  the  craft  gilds  corresponded  to  the  labor  unions  of 
the  present  day,  the  merchant  gilds  resembled,  to  some 
extent,  the  employers',  merchants',  and  manufacturers' 
associations  of  the  present  time.  All  of  these  different 
kinds  of  gilds  attempted  at  times  to  gain  control  of  the 
governments  of  the  cities  and  they  were  able  to  do  so  in 
many  instances. 

The  Village.  The  village  was  a  collection  of  houses 
somewhat  smaller  than  the  city  or  town.  The  houses 
were  usually  poor  and  mean.  Sometimes  they  had  only 
one  room  and  were  without  proper  light,  heat,  or  ventila- 
tion. In  consequence  there  was  much  disease  among  the 
people.  Sometimes  the  cattle  were  housed  under  the  same 
roof  with  the  family.  The  people  who  lived  in  these  vil- 
lages cultivated  the  land  on  the  outskirts  or  pastured  their 
cattle  there.  Some  of  the  land  was  owned  by  individuals 
and  some  of  it  in  common  —  as  our  parks  are  owned 
to-day.  The  people  were  not  very  good  farmers  and 
sometimes  raised  only  eight  or  nine  bushels  of  wheat  or 
rye  per  acre,  where  thirty  or  more  bushels  are  raised 
to-day. 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


153 


Feudalism  is  the  name  which  has  since  been  given  to 
a  peculiar  system  of  land-holding  of  those  days.  A  noble- 
man or  lord  owning  or  controlling  a  large  tract  of  land  let 
it  out  to  farmers  for  cultivation.  These  farmers  paid  rent 
for  the  use  of  the  land  and  this  rent  was  often  paid  in  the 
form  of  military  service;  that  is,  the  farmer  fought  in  the 


A  FEUDAL  CASTLE 

army  of  his  overlord  for  a  certain  number  of  days  each 
year.  The  feudal  lord,  as  the  overlord  was  sometimes 
called,  also  exercised  control  over  the  men  under  him  and 
in  many  instances  actually  governed  them. 

The  Castle.  In  the  center  of  a  large  plantation,  and 
often  upon  some  sightly  hill-top,  the  castle  of  the  feudal 
lord  was  built.  These  castles,  in  some  respects,  resembled 
fortresses  and  were  very  strongly  built  for  purposes  of 
defense.  They  were  made  of  stone  and  the  walls  were 


154  INTRODUCTION    TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

sometimes  several  feet  in  thickness.  The  donjon  or  keep 
was  the  strongest  part  of  the  castle  and  here  the  defenders 
retired  when  hard  pressed.  Gunpowder  would,  of  course, 
have  shattered  these  walls  like  egg-shells,  but  the  bow 
and  the  spear  could  do  little  against  them.  Around  the 
castle  was  the  moat  or  wide  ditch,  filled  with  water  and 
spanned  by  a  drawbridge.  This  drawbridge  could  be 
pulled  up  against  the  side  of  the  castle  in  case  of  attack. 
The  windows  and  doors  were  rather  easily  defended,  as 
they  were  mere  slits  in  the  wall.  The  tourist  who  travels 
in  Europe  at  the  present  day  views  with  interest  the  ruins 
of  many  ivy-mantled  castles  and  towers  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  listens  with  rapt  attention  to  the  blood-curdling 
tales  of  the  fierce  fights  which  took  place  about  them.  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  in  the  beautiful  story  entitled  "Ivanhoe," 
gives  us  a  good  picture  of  the  medieval  castle  and  its 
surroundings. 

Amusements.  The  nobles  who  lived  hi  these  castles 
were  very  fond  of  hunting  and  hawking.  When  not 
fighting,  they  were  very  likely  to  be  in  pursuit  of  game. 
The  greyhound  and  the  falcon,  or  hawk,  were  in  almost 
constant  use.  Ladies  were  also  devoted  to  hawking. 
There  were  not  nearly  so  many  amusements  as  we  have. 
Chess  and  backgammon  were  played.  Strolling  minstrels 
often  helped  to  pass  the  long  evenings  in  winter  with  their 
songs  and  tales.  But  most  of  the  amusements  that  we 
enjoy  to-day  were  unknown  then. 

Chivalry.  Chivalry  was  called  "the  flower  of  feudalism." 
The  great  lords  who  lived  in  these  castles  usually  belonged 
to  an  order  known  as  the  Knights.  These  knights  were 
bold  and  brave  and  true;  and  chivalry  came  to  mean 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN    THE  MIDDLE  AGES  155 

gallantry.  The  education  of  the  boy  for  knighthood  began 
at  the  age  of  seven.  From  seven  to  fourteen  he  was  called 
a  page,  and  from  fourteen  to  twenty-one,  a  squire.  The 
lord  of  the  castle  gave  the  boy  a  training  in  military  affairs 
and  the  ladies  instructed  him  in  religion  and  the  rules  of 
polite  behavior.  The  squire  attended  his  lord  in  battle, 


THE  GREAT  HALL  OF  A  MEDIEVAL  CASTLE 

Banquets  and  entertainments  of  various  kinds  were  held  in  this,  the  principal 
room  of  the  castle. 

carried  weapons  and  armor  for  him,  and  even  took  a  part 
in  the  fight  if  his  master  needed  his  help.  At  twenty-one, 
the  squire  became  a  knight.  The  ceremony  used  in  con- 
ferring knighthood  was  solemn  and  impressive.  The 
young  man  prepared  himself  by  a  long  fast  and  medita- 
tion. He  then  listened  to  a  sermon  on  the  duties  and 
obligations  of  the  knight.  Then  kneeling,  he  took  a  vow 
to  defend  the  church,  women,  the  weak,  and  those  in 
distress.  Armor  was  then  given  him  and  his  sword  was 


156  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

buckled  on.  Then  the  lord  who  had  charge  of  the  cere- 
mony struck  the  lad  upon  the  shoulder  with  the  flat  side 
of  his  sword  and  said,  "In  the  name  of  God,  of  St.  Michael, 
and  of  St.  George,  I  dub  thee  knight;  be  brave,  bold,  and 
loyal." 

The  knight  was  expected  to  be  "gentle,  brave,  courteous, 
truthful,  pure,  generous,  hospitable,  faithful  to  his  engage- 
ments, and  ever  ready  to  risk  life  and  limb  in  the  cause  of 
religion  and  in  defense  of  his  companions  in  arms."  Do 
you  recall  the  story  of  Lancelot,  the  ideal  knight? 

The  standard  of  knighthood  was  very  high  and  some 
failed  to  live  up  to  their  vows.  In  such  cases,  the  false 
knight  was  put  through  a  process,  known  as  the  "  cere- 
mony of  degradation."  His  spurs  were  cut  from  his  boots 
with  a  heavy  axe,  his  sword  was  broken,  and  the  tail  of 
his  horse  was  cut  off.  He  was  then  dressed  in  the  clothes 
of  the  grave,  the  funeral  service  was  read  over  him,  and 
he  was  solemnly  declared  to  be  "dead  to  the  honors  of 
knighthood." 

The  Tournament.  When  the  knights  were  not  fighting 
for  religion  or  defending  their  ladies,  they  pined  for  amuse- 
ment. This  was  found  in  the  tournament  —  which  was 
not  much  like  the  tennis  tournament,  for  example,  of  the 
present  day.  The  tournament  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  a 
sham  battle  between  knights,  mounted  on  horses,  and 
armed  with  blunt  swords  or  pointless  spears.  The  oppos- 
ing sides  rushed  at  each  other  and  tried  to  unhorse  their 
opponents  and  break  their  dummy  weapons.  A  joust  was 
a  contest  between  two  knights.  The  contest  took  place 
in  the  "Lists"  or  large  open  space,  surrounded  by  immense 
throngs  of  spectators.  The  attendance  at  some  of  the 


ENGLISH  LIFE  IN   THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


157 


tournaments  where  famous  knights  fought  was  very  large 
and  sometimes  noted  knights  came  from  foreign  countries 
to  " enter  the  Lists."     The  prize  was  often  a  simple  gar- 
land or  a  wreath  of  flowers. 
At  times  the  tournament  was  brutal  enough,  but  it  was 


A  TOURNAMENT 

a  vast  improvement  upon  the  gladiatorial  and  other  con- 
tests of  Rome. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 
1.  This  is  what  King  Arthur  says  of  the  oath  he  required  of  his  Knights: 

"  I  made  them  lay  their  hands  in  mine  and  swear 
To  reverence  the -King,  as  if  he  were 
Their  conscience,  and  their  conscience  as  their  King, 
To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 
To  ride  abroad  redressing  human  wrongs, 
To  speak  no  slander,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 
To  honor  his  own  word  as  if  his  God's, 


158  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

To  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest  chastity, 
To  love  one  maiden  only,  cleave  to  her, 
And  worship  her  by  years  of  noble  deeds, 
Until  they  won  her." 

Tennyson's  "  Guinevere  "  in  Idylls  of  the  King. 

What  changes  would  you  make  in  this  to  meet  modern  conditions,  so 
that  it  might  well  be  made  the  guide  to  conduct  for  true  gentlemen 
to-day? 

2.  Select  a  site  in  your  neighborhood  for  a  castle.    Then  read  a  good 
description  of  some  castle  and  reconstruct  it  on  your  site. 

3.  Why  do  we  not  have  feudal  castles  in  the  United  States? 

4.  Compare  our  modern  cities  and  villages  with  those  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Antioch    an'tl-Sk  Tournament,     toor'nd-mgnt 

Genoa.    jSn'6-d 


CHAPTER  XVII 
PILGRIMS    AND    EXPLORERS 

The  early  Christians  thought  it  a  pious  privilege  to 
make  pilgrimages.  The  object  of  the  journey  might  be 
the  shrine  of  some  saint,  or,  better  still,  the  tomb  of  Christ 
in  Palestine.  Great  benefits  were  expected  from  these 
visits.  The  weary  pilgrim  sought  his  soul's  salvation  in 
this  way  and,  in  some  cases,  he  expected  to  be  cured  of 
disease.  Sometimes  he  traveled,  staff  in  hand,  many  long 
and  weary  miles  through  hostile  peoples  before  reaching 
his  destination.  He  then  spent  several  days  in  prayer  at 
the  shrine  of  the  saint,  made  an  offering  of  money,  and 
then  set  out  upon  his  homeward  journey,  blessed  with  a 
peace  of  mind.  Sometimes  these  pilgrims  walked  or  rode 
on  horseback  overland  and  at  times  a  passing  vessel  car- 


•    PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  159 

ried  them  a  part  of  the  way.  They  were  often  on  the 
road  for  months  at  a  time. 

Saint  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  A  good  example  of  the 
pilgrimages  were  those  which  were  made  to  the  shrine  of 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  St.  Thomas  was  the  most 
famous  churchman  of  his  day.  He  was  well  educated  and 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  government  of  England  be- 
fore becoming  an  archbishop.  A  very  interesting  story  is 
told  about  this  good  man.  Henry  II  was  very  fond  of  his 
able  assistant  and  gave  him  lands  and  gifts  of  various  kinds. 
At  this  tune,  Thomas  showed  few  symptoms  of  piety  or 
religion,  but  lived  in  a  worldly  and  showy  way. 

After  a  time,  King  Henry  wanted  to  make  Thomas 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  —  a  position  which  would  place 
him  at  the  head  of  the  church  in  England.  Thomas  did 
not  want  the  position  and  declined  it,  but  Henry  insisted 
and  Becket,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  was  ordained  a 
priest  and  became  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Thomas  now  changed  his  mode  and  manner  of  life  com- 
pletely. He  put  aside  worldly  things  and  became  a  pious 
and  devout  churchman.  Soon  a  conflict  arose  between 
the  archbishop  and  the  king.  Thomas  was  the  champion 
of  the  church  and  thought  that  it  should  be  independent 
of  the  government.  Henry,  on  the  other  hand,  said  that 
he,  as  king,  should  rule  over  the  church  as  well  as  the 
state.  The  king  and  the  archbishop  were  both  very  posi- 
tive men  and  the  quarrel  between  them  became  very 
bitter.  Thomas  was  afraid  of  being  murdered  and  fled 
to  France.  Later  he  returned  to  England  and  took  up 
his  fight  anew. 

Finally,  the  king,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  exclaimed,  "What 


160 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


cowards  have  I  brought  up  in  my  house  that  not  one  of 
them  will  rid  me  of  this  low-born  priest!"  His  men  took 
him  at  his  word,  although  Henry  did  not  intend  that  they 
should.  Henry  was  in  Normandy  when  he  gave  vent  to 
this  outburst  of  temper  and  four  knights  who  heard  it 


THE  MURDER  OF  ST.  THOMAS  A  BECKET 

secretly  vowed  to  put  the  archbishop  out  of  the  way. 
They  immediately  crossed  over  to  England  by  different 
routes  and  had  another  meeting  there.  With  a  small 
group  of  followers,  they  went  to  Canterbury  and  killed 
the  archbishop  with  their  swords,  on  the  very  steps  of  the 
altar  in  his  own  cathedral. 

A  tremendous  outcry  went  up  from  all  Europe.     The 
king  was  sorry  for  his  hasty  remark  and  shut  himself  up 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS 


161 


for  several  days,  refusing  to  see  any  one  or  to  eat  food 
of  any  kind.  The  Pope  also  was  shocked  and  went  into 
seclusion  for  a  time.  The  people  mourned  for  Thomas 
as  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  the  church  and  he  was  imme- 
diately put  upon  the  list  of  English  saints.  He  was 
buried  at  Canterbury  and  thousands  of  pious  people  made 
pilgrimages  each  year  to  worship  at  his  tomb.  The  great 
poet,  Chaucer,  in  his  "  Canterbury  Tales,"  written  two 
hundred  years  after  the  murder  of  Becket,  relates  in  an 


PILGRIMS  GOING  TO  CANTERBURY 

interesting  way  the  various  stories  which  different  pilgrims 
told  while  on  their  way  to  Canterbury. 

But  if  people  went  by  thousands  to  worship  at  the 
shrine  of  St.  Thomas,  how  much  stronger  would  be 
the  yearnings  of  pious  Christians  to  kneel  and  pray  at  the 
tomb  of  the  Savior,  himself.  All  through  the  Middle 
Ages,  such  pilgrimages  were  made  to  the  Holy  Land. 
Sometimes  the  pilgrim  went  by  himself  and  sometimes 
great  crowds  went  together.  In  1064,  seven  thousand 
people,  led  by  an  archbishop,  went  to  Jerusalem  in  a 
single  company. 

The    Crusades.    For   several   centuries,    Syria   and   the 


I 
162  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Holy  Land  were  in  the  possession  of  the  Arabs.  These 
men  were  comparatively  mild  and  had  some  sort  of  respect 
for  holy  things  and  sacred  places.  As  a  consequence,  the 
pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Land  were  well  treated  and  were 
allowed  to  come  and  go  in  peace;  but  in  the  eleventh 
century  a  great  change  took  place.  The  wild  Turks  from 
Asia  overran  Syria.  These  men  were  somewhat  like 
Attila  and  his  terrible  Huns  and  had  no  respect  for  the 
Christian  religion  or  for  civilization.  They  took  a  fiend- 
ish delight  in  ruining  holy  places.  Christian  churches 
were  burned  or  turned  into  stables  and  the  pilgrims  were 
mocked  and  persecuted  at  every  turn. 

Just  at  this  time,  also,  a  change  came  over  the  church 
itself.  In  the  early  years  the  leaders  of  the  church  had 
preached  the  Gospel  of  peace;  now,  the  leaders  were 
telling  the  faithful  to  buckle  on  their  swords  and  fight 
for  their  religion.  So  when  the  pilgrims  returned  from 
the  Holy  Land,  with  stories  of  abuse  and  persecution, 
and  a  recital  of  the  ruin  of  holy  places,  the  cry 
went  up  that  the  sepulchre  of  Christ  should  be  rescued 
from  the  hands  of  these  awful  Turks.  At  that  moment, 
the  peaceful  pilgrim  became  a  warrior  and  the  pilgrimages 
became  crusades.  The  pious  people  of  the  time,  as  they 
read  their  Bibles,  saw  that  the  Hebrews  waged  wars 
against  the  heathen  at  the  command  of  Jehovah.  Why 
then  was  it  not  their  pious  duty  also  to  turn  their  swords 
against  the  heathen? 

There  was,  as  we  have  said,  great  indignation  in  Europe 
as  the  pilgrims  returned  from  the  Holy  Land  and  told  of 
their  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  Pope  Urban 
II  had  long  meditated  over  the  injuries  and  insults  which 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  163 

had  been  heaped  upon  the  Christians  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  not  right  that  the  tomb  of  the 
Savior  should  be  in  the  hands  of  cruel  infidels  who  had 
no  respect  for  his  teachings.  His  soul  was  much  troubled 
and  he  called  a  meeting  at  Clermont  in  France  (1095) 
to  see  what  could  be  done. 

The  Pope  addressed  the  meeting  and  made  a  most 
wonderful  speech  in  which  he  depicted  the  cruel  wrongs 
and  urged  his  hearers  to  act  at  once.  This  speech  has 
been  called  "one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  human 
oratory."  "When  Jesus  Christ  summons  you  to  his  de- 
fense/' he  exclaimed,  "let  no  base  affectation  detain  you 
in  your  homes;  whoever  will  abandon  his  house,  or  his 
father  or  his  mother,  or  his  wife,  or  his  children,  or  his 
inheritance,  for  the  sake  of  His  name,  shall  be  recom- 
pensed a  hundred  fold  and  shall  possess  life  eternal." 
At  this  point,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  vast  throng  burst 
all  bounds  and  a  great  shout  went  up  from  all  sides,  "It 
is  the  will  of  God!  It  is  the  will  of  God!"  Men  fas- 
tened crosses  upon  their  clothing  to  indicate  the  fact  that 
they  had  enlisted  in  the  "Holy  Wars  of  the  Cross."  Here, 
then,  at  Clermont  was  started  a  movement  known  as  the 
Crusades,  which  continued  for  two  hundred  years. 

The  First  Crusade  (1096).  But  Palestine  was  thou- 
sands of  miles  away  —  a  long,  difficult,  and  dangerous  jour- 
ney—  and  men  could  not  set  out  without  making  some 
preparation. 

Peter  the  Hermit.  And  just  at  this  point,  we  must 
stop  for  a  moment  to  tell  the  story  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 
It  was  once  thought  that  this  Peter,  a  pious  monk,  was 
the  man  who  started  the  whole  crusade  movement.  We 


164 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


know  now  that  he  was  the  preacher,  but  not  the  originator, 
of  the  Crusades.  It  was  said  that  Peter,  a  native  of 
France,  went  to  Palestine  on  a  pilgrimage  and  saw  with 


PETER  THE  HERMIT  PREACHING  THE  CRUSADE 

his  own  eyes  the  persecutions  of  the  western  pilgrims. 
He  came  back  with  his  soul  on  fire,  went  to  the  Pope,  and, 
falling  upon  his  knees  before  him,  begged  permission  to 
preach  a  crusade  against  the  Turks.  The  Pope  gave  his 
consent  and  Peter  went  about  in  fields  and  streets  and 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  165 

along  country  roads  —  everywhere  he  could  get  people  to 
listen  to  him  —  and  delivered  his  message.  His  figure 
became  a  familiar  one,  as,  clad  in  his  long,  monkish  robe, 
he  rode  upon  his  ass  and  held  the  crucifix  on  high.  His 
preaching  reached  men's  hearts.  It  had  an  electrical  effect 
and  men  by  tens  of  thousands  enlisted  for  the  march  on 
Palestine. 

The  Pope  also  preached  the  crusade  and  promised  that 
those  who  took  part  in  it  should  be  richly  rewarded.  He 
said  that  a  man  who  was  really  sorry  for  his  sins  should 
have  "the  joy  of  eternal  life,  even  if  he  died  before  the 
army  reached  the  Holy  City." 

Preparations  were  being  made  for  this  First  Crusade, 
but  things  did  not  move  rapidly  enough  to  suit  the  men 
who  had  been  inflamed  by  the  preaching  of  Peter.  They 
became  impatient  and  could  be  restrained  no  longer. 
Consequently  a  great  horde  of  them —  men,  women,  and 
children,  some  say  eighty  thousand  —  started  off  under 
the  leadership  of  Peter  the  Hermit  and  a  wandering  knight, 
known  as  Walter  the  Penniless.  They  started  overland 
for  Constantinople,  going  through  Germany  and  Hungary. 
They  were  entirely  unprepared  for  such  an  expedition  as 
this  and  thousands  of  them  died  by  the  roadside  of  hunger, 
disease,  and  exposure.  Only  a  small  remnant  reached  Con- 
stantinople and  these  were  made  short  work  of  by  the 
Turks.  This  was  the  sad  ending  of  the  ill-fated  First 
Crusade. 

In  the  meantime,  preparations  for  the  real  Crusade  were 
pushed  with  vigor.  In  1099,  about  three  hundred  thou- 
sand men  turned  their  faces  towards  the  East.  They 
suffered  terribly.  About  one  half  of  their  number  perished 


166 


INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


on  the  way.  The  survivors,  however,  pushed  on  to  Jeru- 
salem. They  went  into  raptures  of  joy  at  the  first  sight 
of  the  Holy  City.  They  knelt  down,  kissed  the  earth, 

and  took  off  their 
shoes,  recognizing 
the  fact  that  they 
were  treading  on 
holy  ground.  Then, 
advancing  with  bare 
feet  and  uncovered 
heads,  they  sang 
"  Jerusalem,  lift  up 
thine  eyes,  and  be- 
hold the  liberator, 
who  comes  to  break 
thy  chains."  An  at- 
tack followed  and 
the  city  fell.  The 
Turks  were  slaugh- 
tered  without 
mercy.  One  of  the 
crusaders  wrote  a 
letter  home  and  de- 
scribed what  took 
place  as  follows: 
"And  if  you  desire  to  know  what  was  done  with  the  enemy 
who  were  found  there,  know  that  in  Solomon's  Porch  and 
hi  his  Temple,  our  men  rode  in  the  blood  of  the  Turks  up 
to  the  knees  of  their  horses." 

The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem.     Now  that  Jerusalem  was 
taken,  it  was  necessary  to  set  up  over  it  a  new  form  of 


THE  WAR  MACHINERY  OF  THE  CRUSADERS 
Gunpowder  was  not  known  at  this  time.  In- 
stead of  cannon  the  crusaders  used  great  ma- 
chines, like  huge  bows  worked  by  windlasses, 
to  hurl  rocks  against  the  walls  of  fortified 
towns  and  castles. 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  167 

government.  This  was  done  by  the  crusaders,  and  God- 
frey, a  sincere  and  devoted  knight,  was  placed  at  its  head. 
Godfrey  was  called  "the  Defender  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre," 
as  he  refused  to  be  called  king.  "I  will  never  wear  a 
crown  of  gold  in  this  Holy  City,"  he  said,  " where  my 
Lord  and  Master  wore  a  crown  of  thorns."  Then  the 
crusaders  broke  ranks  and  scattered.  Some  of  them 
remained  in  the  East,  while  others  returned  by  many 
different  routes  to  their  homes  in  Europe. 

The  Third  Crusade.  In  less  than  a  century,  Jerusalem 
was  again  lost  to  the  Christians.  The  city  was  captured 
by  Saladin,  the  famous  Sultan  of  Egypt,  in  1187.  The 
news  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  rang  throughout  Europe  like 
a  bugle  call  to  arms.  The  result  of  this  was  the  Third 
Crusade  —  in  some  respects  the  most  famous  of  them  all. 
This  crusade  was  led  by  three  great  men  —  Philip,  the 
King  of  France,  Frederick,  Emperor  of  Germany,  and 
Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  King  of  England.  Nothing  of 
importance  was  accomplished.  Numerous  misfortunes  be- 
fell the  expedition.  The  Germans  took  the  overland  route 
and  their  Emperor  was  drowned,  while  attempting  to 
cross  a  swollen  stream.  Most  of  the  Germans  became 
disheartened  and  returned  to  their  homes.  The  French 
and  English  took  the  sea  route  and  after  two  years  of 
fruitless  fighting  about  Jerusalem,  they  too  gave  up  in 
despair.  The  lion-hearted  Richard,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  had  many  mishaps  while  on  his  way  home. 

The  Children's  Crusade  (1212).  The  height  of  folly  in 
the  whole  crusading  movement,  however,  was  reached  in 
the  Children's  Crusade.  A  French  peasant  boy,  named 
Stephen,  twelve  years  of  age,  got  it  into  his  head  that  he 


168  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

was  called  by  God  to  lead  a  crusade  of  young  children 
against  the  infidel  Turk.  He  sounded  his  call  and  many 
small  boys  and  some  girls  enlisted  under  his  banner. 
Some  of  the  older  people  thought  that  the  project  was  all 
right  and  quoted  the  Scriptures  to  the  effect  that  "a 
little  child  shall  lead  them."  Others  thought  that  the 
whole  thing  was  inspired  by  the  devil.  At  all  events,  a 
band  of  German  children,  estimated  at  from  twenty 
thousand  to  forty  thousand,  gathered  together  and  marched 
over  the  Alps  to  Italy.  Nothing  could  hold  them  back. 
"Even  bolts  and  bars,"  says  an  old  writer,  " could  not 
hold  them." 

These  children,  most  of  them  no  older  than  Stephen 
himself,  marched  along  the  shores  of  Italy,  expecting  to 
find  a  pathway  to  Jerusalem  miraculously  opened  to  them. 
They  expected  the  sea  to  part  for  their  passage,  as  the 
Red  Sea  had  parted  for  the  passage  of  the  children  of 
Israel  out  of  Egypt.  No  such  pathway  appeared,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  little  ones  either  fell  by  the  wayside  or 
died  from  the  hardships  of  the  march.  A  sorry  and  weary 
little  band  reached  Rome  and  made  a  call  upon  the  Pope. 
The  Pope  received  them  in  a  very  kind  and  fatherly  way. 
He  saw  the  folly  of  the  whole  attempt  and  persuaded  the 
children  to  return  to  their  homes  and  to  set  out  again 
upon  their  crusade  after  they  became  men.  Such  was  the 
fate  of  the  German  boys  and  girls  who  embarked  in  this 
crusade. 

The  French  children,  about  thirty  thousand  in  number, 
met  at  Marseilles  with  Stephen  himself  as  their  leader. 
The  youthful  captain  rode  in  great  pomp  in  a  chariot, 
surrounded  by  his  body-guard.  The  poor  little  ones  knew 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS 


169 


nothing  of  the  difficulties  of  the  task  which  they  were 
about  to  undertake.  They  had  no  idea  of  the  distance  to 
Jerusalem  and  whenever  they  came  within  sight  of  a  city, 
the  cry  went  up, 
"Is  that  Jerusa- 
lem?" 

They  were  also 
led  to  think  that 
when  they  got  to 
Marseilles,  the  sea 
would  open  and  per- 
mit them  to  pass 
through  dry  shod. 
But  it  did  not  and 
many  of  them  re- 
turned to  their 
homes.  Some  five 
thousand  of  them 
started  on  ship- 
board, however,  for 
the  Holy  Land. 
There  happened  to 
be  two  traveling 
merchants  in  Mar- 
seilles at  the  time  and  these  men  offered  to  take  the  children 
by  boat  to  their  destination.  Five  thousand  of  them  were 
packed  in  seven  small  ships,  but  they  never  reached  Pales- 
tine. A  part  of  them  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  when 
two  of  the  ships  were  wrecked  in  a  storm,  and  those  who  sur- 
vived were  sold  as  slaves  in  Alexandria  and  other  cities.  And 
so  the  Children's  Crusade  ended  in  disaster  and  suffering. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CRUSADE 


170  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

These  Crusades  were  spread  out  over  a  period  of  two 
hundred  years.  There  were  four  great  Crusades  and  as 
many  more  of  lesser  importance.  Religion  was,  of  course, 
the  main-spring  of  the  whole  movement,  but  many  en- 
listed for  other  reasons.  The  restless  knights  loved  to 
fight,  and  adventure  and  danger  were  the  spice  of  their 
lives.  Some,  too,  joined  the  Crusades  on  account  of  the 
wealth  which  they  hoped  to  secure  by  plundering  the 
heathen.  Serfs  joined  for  their  freedom,  debtors  to  be 
free  from  debt,  and  criminals  to  escape  punishment  for 
their  offenses.  But  on  the  whole,  religion  was  the  motive 
which  sent  wave  after  wave  of  the  population  of  Europe 
against  the  East. 

The  Results  of  the  Crusades.  Now,  what  about  the 
results  of  the  Crusades?  Were  they  successful  or  not? 
Did  they  accomplish  anything  of  real  and  lasting  value? 
In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Crusades 
were  a  failure  in  so  far  as  their  immediate  object  was 
concerned.  They  failed  in  their  attempt  to  snatch  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  from  infidel  hands.  t  The  crusaders  did, 
of  course,  get  possession  of  Jerusalem  but  they  soon  lost 
it  and  never  got  it  back.  In  fact,  Jerusalem  has  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  Turks  to  this  day.  From  that 
standpoint,  the  Crusades  were  a  failure. 

In  an  indirect  way,  however,  untold  benefits  resulted 
from  them.  In  the  first  place,  the  people  of  the  East  — 
aside  from  the  Turks  —  were  more  cultured  and  learned 
than  those  of  the  West  and  so  the  Crusades  were  important 
in  an  educational  way.  Up  to  this  time,  the  people  of  the 
West  had  not  traveled  very  much.  As  a  rule,  a  man  lived 
and  died  in  the  village  or  hamlet  in  which  he  was  born  and 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  171 

knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  great  outside  world.  Now 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  traveled  thousands  of  miles 
and  came  into  contact  with  a  civilization  higher  and  better 
than  their  own.  And  they  profited  by  it,  too. 

They  brought  many  new  ideas  home  with  them.  One 
of  the  most  useful  of  these  was  the  Arabic  system  of 
notation,  which  soon  displaced  the  more  clumsy  Roman 
system.  If  you  were  a  bookkeeper,  how  would  you  like  to 
keep  your  accounts  in  Roman  numerals?  They  brought 
home  with  them  the  use  of  the  cross-bow,  the  drum  and 
the  trumpet,  and  such  fruits  and  vegetables  as  the  apricot, 
watermelon,  and  garlic.  They  also  learned  the  use  of  the 
windmill  and  set  up  mills  in  large  numbers  all  over 
Europe,  but  more  particularly  in  Holland  where  they  were 
used  to  pump  the  water  out  of  low  places  which  were 
needed  for  cultivation.  They  returned  with  a  taste  for 
spices,  silks,  wines,  dyestuffs,  glassware,  and  the  fine 
jewels  of  the  East.  They  also  began  to  decorate  their 
homes  in  imitation  of  the  luxurious  ones  which  they  had 
seen  in  the  East.  In  fact,  the  Crusades  increased  the 
interest  in  art  of  all  kinds.  Constantinople  was  the  home 
of  much  of  the  art  of  the  Eastern  world  and  these  crusaders 
saw  art  treasures  such  as  they  had  never  seen  before.  In 
one  instance  they  showed  their  appreciation  of  art  in  a 
rather  crude  and  barbarous  way.  When  retiring  from 
Constantinople,  they  carried  off  some  famous  bronze  horses 
and  placed  them  over  the  portico  of  St.  Mark's  Cathedral 
in  Venice.  Napoleon  took  them  from  this  cathedral  at 
the  time  of  his  campaign  in  Italy,  but  they  were  returned 
at  a  later  time.  Now  one  of  the  sights  of  the  city  of 
Venice  is  the  famous  "  Horses  of  St.  Mark's." 


172 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


The  Crusades  also  gave  a  new  life  to  commerce  and  built 
up  important  trading  cities,  such  as  Venice,  Pisa,  and 
Genoa.  The  westerners  also  obtained  the  mariner's  com- 
pass from  the  Arabs,  and  this  instrument  aided  greatly  in 
commerce  and  geographical  explorations.  It  may  be  said 

that  "the  horizon  of 
Europe  was  immensely 
widened  by  the  Cru- 
sades." Travel  will 
broaden  and  educate 
any  person  who  travels 
with  his  eyes  open. 

The  Travelers:  Marco 
Polo.  The  crusaders 
also  wrote  home  to  their 
relatives  and  friends, 
and  returning  crusaders 
brought  tales  of  the 
wealth  and  civilization 
of  the  great  East.  These 
stories  made  the  travel- 
ers and  the  explorers 
of  the  time  wish  to 
know  more  of  this  interesting  country.  It  was  the  Cru- 
sades that  stirred  such  men  as  Marco  Polo  to  action. 

During  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  the  East 
was  visited  many  times  by  men  from  Europe,  but  prob- 
ably the  most  famous  of  these  travelers  was  Marco  Polo. 
Marco  Polo  was  a  member  of  an  old  and  aristocratic 
family  of  Venice.  His  father  and  his  father's  brother  were 
engaged  in  trade  on  a  large  scale  and  traveled  extensively 


A  VENETIAN  SHIP 

One  of  the  routes  of  trade  from  the  East  led 
to  Venice  and  the  valuable  products  of  this 
eastern  trade  were  carried  to  various  parts 
of  the  Mediterranean  world  in  proud  little 
ships  like  the  one  represented  in  the  picture. 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS 


173 


in  the  pursuit  of  their  business.  On  one  occasion,  the  two 
brothers  set  out  to  visit  their  business  house  in  Constanti- 
nople. After  attending  to  their  affairs  at  that  place,  they 
went  on  to  the  Crimea  and  from  there  to  the  court  of  the 
great  Khan,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  China.  This 
Chinese  ruler  had  never  seen  European  gentlemen  before 
and  was  charmed  by  the  two  cultured  and  polite  Venetians. 

After     several    years     spent , 

partly  in  business  and  partly  in 
exploration,  the  Polos  returned 
to  their  home  in  Venice.    The 
experiences    of    this   trip   made 
them  all  the  more  eager  for  an- 
other one,  and  in  1271  the  two 
brothers  again  set  out  for  China, 
this  time  to  be  absent  twenty- 
four   years.      They    also    took 
with  them  Marco  Polo,  then  a 
boy  of  seventeen,  who  was  eager 
for    the    novel    experience.     It 
took  them  four  years  to  get  to  China,  but  they  finally 
found  their  old  friend,  the  great   Khan,  at   a   city  near 
the    northern    end    of    the  great    Chinese    Wall.     When 
they   first  arrived,  they   did   not    find    it    easy    to    con- 
verse with  the   natives.     But  the  young   Marco   applied 
himself  to  study  and  was  soon  able  to  speak   and  write 
several   of  the  Asiatic  languages.     He   entered   the  ser- 
vice of  the  great  Khan  and  remained  in  it  for  seven- 
teen years.     During  this  time,  he  made  official  trips  up 
and  down  the  vast   domains    of    his    master    and    pene- 
trated into   the   heart   of   Asia,  where   even   now   Euro- 


MARCO  POLO 


174  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

peans  very  rarely  go,  This  was  a  very  interesting  and 
valuable  experience. 

After  having  been  away  from  home  for  twenty-one  years 
the  Polos  felt  like  returning.  The  great  Khan,  however, 
did  not  wish  them  to  go,  but  they  started,  nevertheless, 
in  1292  and  reached  Venice  three  years  later.  When  they 
came  into  their  native  town,  after  an  absence  of  twenty- 
four  years,  nobody  knew  them.  Like  Ulysses  and  Rip  van 
Winkle,  they  had  changed  a  great  deal  in  personal  appear- 
ance. When  they  set  out  upon  their  journey,  Marco 
Polo  was  a  stripling  of  seventeen.  He  was  now  a  man 
of  forty-one.  It  is  no  wonder  that  people  did  not  recog- 
nize the  travelers  in  their  "  shabby  clothes  of  Tartar  cut." 
They  had,  in  fact,  long  been  given  up  as  dead. 

Soon  after  their  return,  they  invited  in  a  few  old  friends 
to  have  dinner  with  them.  After  the  dinner  was  over, 
they  brought  out  three  coats  and  proceeded  to  rip  open 
the  welts  and  seams.  Out  fell  diamonds,  rubies,  emeralds, 
sapphires,  and  other  valuables  —  the  spoils  of  twenty-four 
years  of  trade  and  travel.  These,  we  are  told,  "had  all 
been  stitched  up  in  those  dresses  in  so  artful  a  fashion 
that  nobody  could  have  suspected  the  fact."  As  soon  as 
the  Venetians  were  convinced  that  the  three  long-lost 
Polos  had  really  returned,  the  whole  city  turned  out  and 
flocked  to  their  home  to  greet  and  to  embrace  them. 

Three  years  after  his  return  from  China,  Marco  Polo  was 
seized  and  cast  into  prison  while  fighting  for  his  native 
city  against  Genoa.  He  remained  in  prison  for  a  year  and 
during  that  tune  he  wrote  his  famous  book,  entitled 
"The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  concerning  the  Kingdoms 
and  Marvels  of  the  East."  This  book  was  an  exceedingly 


PILGRIMS  AND  EXPLORERS  175 

valuable  one  as  it  gave  the  men  of  Europe  much  new 
information  concerning  the  geography  and  resources  of  a 
great  and  rich  country.  A  short  time  after  this,  another 
interesting  book  appeared.  This  was  called,  "The  Voyage 
and  Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville."  Now,  Sir  John  was 
a  rank  impostor  who  never  really  traveled  in  the  East  at 
all,  but  he  led  people  to  believe  that  he  had  by  publishing 
a  book  made  up  of  the  writings  of  eastern  travelers. 

All  of  these  books  had  glowing  stories  to  relate.  They 
told  of  silver  walls  "and  golden  towers,"  of  precious  stones 
and  fountains  of  youth,  and  of  immense  palaces  paved 
with  gold,  "like  slabs  of  stone,  a  good  two  fingers  thick." 
These  accounts  were  read  with  a  relish  by  Europeans  and, 
naturally  enough,  made  them  anxious  to  increase  their 
trade  with  the  East  and  to  know  more  of  that  wonderful 
country. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Do  you  see  how  these  pilgrims  and  explorers  were  making  it  easier 
for  Columbus  and  his  men  to  undertake  their  great  work  later? 

2.  Trace  on  your  map  the  routes  of  the  crusaders  and  Marco   Polo's 
route  to  China. 

3.  Find  out  if  you  can  whether  we  have  anything  to-day  like  these 
pilgrimages. 

4.  Report  to  your  class  on  the  work  of  Peary,  or  Amundsen,  or  Scott. 

5.  Who  inspired  the  Crusades  and  how? 

6.  In  what  ways  did  the  Crusades  benefit  the  world? 

7.  What  caused  King  John  to  quarrel  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury? 

8.  What  does  this  chapter  show  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  world 
outside  of  England? 

9.  Do  you  think  the  Crusades  really  started  the  discovery  period? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Buddhists.    bood'Ists  Constantinople.     k6n-stan'tl-no'p'l 

Chaucer.    ch6'ser  Crimea,    krf-me'd 

Clermont.    klgr'mSnt  Khan,    kan 


176  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Mandeville.    man'd6-vfl  Pisa,    pe'sa 

Marco  Polo,    mar'ko  po'lo  Syria.    slr'I-d 

Marseilles,    mar-salz'  Urban,    tir'btfn 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    DISCOVERY 

The  Northmen.  We  have  already  noticed  that  while  the 
men  from  northern  Europe  were  making  voyages  in  differ- 
ent directions,  some  of  them  came  to  America  (page  132). 
These  men  came  to  Iceland  in  867  and  founded  a  colony 
in  Greenland  a  few  years  later.  They  then  came  to  what 
is  now  known  as  North  America.  These  men  were  not, 
however,  in  any  true  sense  the  discoverers  of  America. 
When  they  returned  to  their  Scandinavian  homes,  they 
told  the  story  of  their  voyage,  but  it  apparently  aroused 
but  little  interest.  It  was  very  much  like  a  hundred  other 
voyages  which  these  daring  Northmen  had  made  at  about 
that  same  time.  The  people  did  not  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  the  voyage  and  soon  forgot  all  about  it.  So 
nothing  came  from  the  so-called  "  Norse  discovery  of 
America." 

The  journeys  of  Marco  Polo  were  much  more  important. 
In  his  book,  he  gave  the  Europeans  a  good  account  of 
the  greatness  and  the  riches  of  the  East.  He  also  added 
to  their  geographical  knowledge  of  the  eastern  countries 
and  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  He  returned  from  China  by 
way  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  so  knew  what 
he  was  talking  about.  The  Polos  were  the  first  Europeans  to 
make  a  voyage  upon  what  we  now  call  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY 


177 


Trade  with  the  East.  One  of  the  most  important  re- 
sults of  the  Crusades  and  of  the  journeys  of  Marco  Polo 
and  other  eastern  travelers  was  the  increase  in  trade  be- 
tween Europe  and  the  East.  There  were  three  principal 


TRADE  ROUTES  TO  THE  EAST 

routes  of  trade,  over  which  eastern  goods  were  brought 
to  European  markets.  The  northern  route  led  from  the 
eastern  part  of  China  to  Genoa  byway  of  the  Caspian  and 
Black  Seas  and  Constantinople.  The  central  route  went  from 
India  to  Antioch  by  way  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  valley.  The  southern  route  led  from  India 
to  Venice  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean. 


178  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

For  centuries  Europeans  toiled  up  and  down  these  routes 
with  ^  boat  and  caravan.  They  carried  woolen  cloth,  linen, 
black  lead,  wine,  and  glassware  to  the  East  and  received  in 
exchange  fragrant  spices,  black  pepper,  cotton  cloth,  silks, 
perfumes,  ivory,  pearls,  sapphires,  diamonds,  and  other 
articles  of  -great  value.  Over  these  long  routes  the  rich 
products  of  the  East  were  carried  upon  the  backs  of 
camels,  mules,  or  horses,  and  even  upon  the  backs  of  men. 
The  long  caravans  of  the  merchants  toiled  slowly  and 
painfully  over  mountains,  through  valleys,  and  across 

deserts,  in  the  midst 
of  snow,  ice,  or  burn- 
ing sands,  until  their 
precious  burdens 
were  finally  placed 
on  shipboard  at  some 

PART  OF  AN  EASTERN   CARAVAN  ..,    ,.. 

Mediterranean  port. 

This  was  a  dangerous  business.  Sometimes  the  caravans 
were  plundered  by  wild  Asiatic  tribes,  again  ships  fell 
into  the  clutches  of  pirates,  and  now  and  then  an  entire 
cargo  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  during  one  of  the 
furious  Mediterranean  storms.  Yet  the  profits  in  this  east- 
ern trade  were  enormous  and  enough  of  the  goods  reached 
their  destination  to  make  Venice  and  Genoa,  the  rival 
cities,  immensely  wealthy. 

The  Fall  of  Constantinople  (1453).  But  while  the  mer- 
chants were  reaping  rich  profits,  an  event  occurred  which 
changed  the  current  of  the  world's  history.  Constanti- 
nople fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  These  Turks 
were  turning  their  armies  against  the  city  of  Constantine 
when  the  Crusades  started  in  Europe.  The  crusaders 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY  179 

checked  the  progress  of  the  Turks  and  for  several  cen- 
turies kept  them  from  capturing  the  city.  But  after  a 
time  the  crusading  spirit  died  away  and  the  Turks  laid 
siege  to  Constantinople  and  captured  it  in  1453.  As  a 
result  of  this,  the  eastern  trade  route  leading  to  Genoa 
by  way  of  Constantinople,  was  cut  off.  Business  was 
ruined  and  Columbus  probably  saw  grass  and  weeds  grow- 
ing in  the  streets  of  his  native  city.  It  was  now  plain 
that,  in  a  very  short  time,  the  Turks  would  cut  off  all  of 
the  overland  trade  routes  between  Europe  and  the  East. 
And  so  the  merchants  faced  a  crisis.  The  eastern  trade 
was  a  rich  prize  and  they  could  not  afford  to  lose  it. 
Something  had  to  be  done  and  the  men  of  Europe  said, 
"  A  new  trade  route  must  be  found  to  the  great  East." 

The  Water  Route  to  the  East.  The  new  route  would 
evidently  have  to  be  a  water  route,  as  the  Turks  were 
rapidly  taking  possession  of  the  land.  And  there  were 
other  reasons,  too,  for  preferring  a  water  route  to  a  land 
route  at  .this  time.  Travel  on  the  water  was  easier  than 
upon  the  land  and  this  was  especially  true,  since  the  cru- 
saders had  brought  back  to  Europe  a  knowledge  of  the 
use  of  the  mariner's  compass.  Sea  navigation  was  new 
much  safer  than  it  ever  had  been  before. 

The  Revival  of  Learning.  This  problem  of  finding  a 
new  route  to  India  was  one  of  the  most  important  and 
difficult  ones  that  the  men  of  Europe  were  ever  compelled 
to  face.  Year  by  year  the  eastern  trade  was  increasing 
and  year  by  year  the  grip  of  the  Turks  was  tightening 
upon  the  trade  routes.  It  was  really  a  desperate  situation 
and  the  solution  was  exceedingly  difficult  on  account  of 
the  scanty  geographical  and  scientific  knowledge. 


180  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

It  was  exceedingly  fortunate  that  this  great  problem 
appeared  just  when  it  did.  If  it  had  come  at  an  earlier 
time  —  for  example,  at  the  time  when  the  Norsemen  came 
to  America — it  undoubtedly  would  not  have  been  solved; 
the  mind  of  Europe  would  not  have  been  equal  to  it. 
The  gloom  of  the  Dark  Ages  still  covered  the  land.  But 
now  a  great  change  had  taken  place.  The  Dark  Ages  had 
passed  away  and  were  followed  by  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant periods  in  the  whole  history  of  Europe.  This  period 
is  usually  called  the  " Revival  of  Learning/'  because  men 
seemed  to  wake  up  after  the  long  sleep  of  the  Dark 
Ages. 

This  revival  began  in  Italy,  but  soon  spread  out  over 
all  Europe.  Men  studied  literature  and  science  with  a 
tremendous  eagerness  and  soon  the  revival  extended  to 
other  lands.  There  was  a  revival  in  art,  and  a  revival  in 
commerce,  in  navigation  and  in  the  study  of  geography. 
Gunpowder  was  invented  and  "made  all  men  the  same 
height."  That  is,  the  small  man  with  a  gun  became  the 
equal  of  the  large  man,  who  hitherto  had  the  advantage  of 
his  size.  Printing  by  means  of  movable  types  was  in- 
vented at  this  time  and  served  to  multiply  books,  to  make 
them  cheaper,  and  to  put  on  record  the  results  of  the 
Revival  of  Learning.  Men  read  and  studied  and  thought, 
and  were  eager  for  travel  by  land  and  water.  The  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  adventure  was  in  the  air.  Men  were 
more  wide-awake  than  they  had  been  for  centuries  and 
this  period  is  sometimes  called  the  "New  Birth,"  because 
the  world  seemed  to  be  born  again.  Taking  it  all  in  all, 
it  seems  very  fortunate  that  the  problem  of  a  new  route 
to  the  East  confronted  Europe  just  when  it  did. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY  181 

Portuguese  Voyages.  Although  we  do  not  now  look  upon 
the  Portuguese  as  one  of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe, 
they  were  a  very  important  people  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 


GUTENBERG   SHOWING   HlS   FlRST   PROOF 

Gutenberg  was  the  inventor  of  printing  by  means  of  movable  type.  His 
invention,  coming  as  it  did  at  the  close  of  the  Dark  Ages,  marked  a  turning- 
point  in  civilization. 

tury,  and  especially  so  in  matters  relating  to  the  sea. 
In  fact,  the  Portuguese  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  succes- 
sors of  the  Vikings,  as  they  were  the  first  people  since 
the  Northmen  to  undertake  sea  voyages  on  a  grand  scale. 
The  Sea  of  Darkness.  It  required  a  bold  mariner  with 
a  stout  heart  to  make  an  ocean  voyage  in  those  days. 


182 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


The  ships  which  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  were  using 
were  not  so  swift  nor  so  seaworthy  as  the  little  boats  which 
the  Northmen  had  used  five  hundred  years  before.  The 
sailors'  instruments  were  also  crude.  The  mariner's  com- 
pass was  in  use  and  the  astrolabe,  a  new  instrument  for 
finding  the  latitude  of  a  ship  at  sea,  had  been  invented. 


SOME  OF  THE  IMAGINARY  TERRORS  OF  THE  SEA  OF  DARKNESS 

But,  in  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  equipment  of  the 
navigator  was  not  very  good.  It  is  certain  that  a  sea  cap- 
tain of  to-day  would  shudder  if  asked  to  venture  upon  the 
ocean  under  such  conditions. 

And  yet  the  lack  of  good  instruments  and  staunch  ships 
was  not  the  only  thing  that  kept  men  off  the  sea.  The 
Atlantic  Ocean  had  a  bad  reputation.  It  was  called  the 
"Sea  of  Darkness,"  and  many  shrank  from  it  and  shud- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY  183 

dered  much  as  children  do  at  the  sight  of  a  house  which  is 
said  to  be  "  haunted."  Men  did  not  really  know  very 
much  about  the  ocean,  but  they  imagined  a  great  many 
dreadful  things.  They  knew  that  the  weather  became 
warmer  as  they  went  towards  the  south  and  so  they  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  water  must  be  boiling  under  the 
equator.  The  heat  of  this  "  fiery  zone/'  as  it  was  called, 
would  melt  the  pitch  from  the  crevices  of  their  ships  and 
send  them  to  the  bottom.  They  also  feared  a  sea-worm, 
or  borer,  which  "  could  eat  through  the  strongest  oaks," 
and  thus  wreck  the  ships  of  the  mariners.  To  add  to  all 
these  terrors  of  the  deep,  there  was  supposed  to  be  some- 
where in  the  Indian  Ocean  a  mountain  of  load-stone, 
whose  magnetism  drew  the  nails  from  the  vessels  and 
thus  caused  them  to  fall  apart.  The  more  remote  parts 
of  the  ocean  were  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  terrible 
monsters  known  as  gorgons  and  chimeras.  An  old  pic- 
ture represents  one  of  these  monsters  gliding  up  the  side 
of  the  ship  and  grabbing  one  of  the  sailors  from  the  rig- 
ging. Then  again,  ships  sailing  out  of  port  seemed  to  go 
down  hill,  as  the  tops  of  the  masts  were  the  last  to  dis- 
appear. Upon  noting  this  fact,  some  asked,  "How  will 
it  be  possible  for  these  ships  to  make  their  way  up  the  hill 
again  when  they  wish  to  return  to  port?" 

When  we  consider  all  these  queer  beliefs  and  strange 
notions,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  men  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  did  not  care  to  sail  far  out  of  the  sight  of  land 
upon  the  Atlantic? 

Prince  Henry  the  Navigator.  There  were  some  men,  how- 
ever, in  those  days  who  could  not  be  held  back  by  frail  ships, 
crude  instruments,  or  sea  monsters.  These  men  were  the 


184 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


bold  Portuguese  sailors  of  the  fifteenth  century,  under  their 
splendid  leader  and  teacher,  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator. 
Prince  Henry  is  one  of  the  great  characters  of  the  period 
and  has  a  wonderfully  interesting  story.  He  was  one  of 
the  younger  sons  of  a  good  king  of  Portugal  and  was  born 
in  1394.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  went  with  the 

Portuguese  army  to  fight 
against  the  Moors  in  Morocco. 
While  there  he  heard  a  great 
deal  about  the  land  and  the 
productions  of  the  East,  as  well 
as  about  the  eastern  trade.  He 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
sea  route  would  be  of  great 
importance  to  Portugal  and,  in 
fact,  to  all  of  Europe.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  commercial  bene- 
fits derived,  he  hoped  to  build 
up  a  great  Portuguese  empire 
in  the  East  and  to  convert 
millions  of  people  to  the 
Christian  faith. 


PRINCE  HENRY  THE  NAVIGATOR 

The  man  who  prepared  the  way  for 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 


When  he  returned  from  Morocco,  he  was  offered  several 
important  military  positions,  but  he  declined  them  all,  in 
order  to  devote  himself  to  his  great  project.  In  order  that 
he  might  not  be  disturbed,  he  left  the  royal  court  and  the 
society  of  Lisbon  and  sought  the  seclusion  of  a  lonely 
promontory  on  the  southern  coast  of  Portugal.  Here  on 
the  promontory  of  Sagres,  a  "  lonely  and  barren  rock,  jut- 
ting out  into  the  ocean,"  he  gave  himself  over  to  a  study 
of  his  great  problem.  In  this  lonely  spot,  thought  at  one 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY  185 

time  to  be  the  western-most  limit  of  the  habitable 
world,  Prince  Henry  built  an  astronomical  observatory 
and  founded  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  naviga- 
tors and  geographers.  His  own  study  room  was  in  a 
high  tower  where  he  pored  over  his  problems  in  as- 
tronomy and  navigation  until  far  into  the  night.  Sailors 
coming  into  port  often  saw  the  faint  light  streaming  from 
his  little  window.  His  motto  was,  "  Desire  to  do  well," 
and  he  seemed  to  live  up  to  it  admirably.  In  addition  to 
being  an  enthusiastic  scientist,  Prince  Henry  had  money 
enough  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  his  work.  The  central 
idea  of  his  plan  was  to  find  a  route  to  India  by  sailing 
around  the  continent  of  Africa. 

As  a  beginning,  Prince  Henry 's  men  crept  cautiously 
down  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  using  the  islands  as 
stepping-stones.  In  the  gloom  of  the  Dark  Ages,  the 
Madeira  Islands  and  the  Canary  Islands  had  been  for- 
gotten for  a  thousand  years.  Now  they  were  rediscov- 
ered. The  men  pushed  on,  mile  after  mile,  down  the  coast, 
and  were  greatly  encouraged  by  the  long  stretch  of  coast- 
line towards  the  east,  but  when  after  passing  the  Gulf  of 
Guinea,  the  coast  again  turned  to  the  south,  their  hearts 
fell  within  them.  They  were  filled  with  doubts  because 
they  did  not  know  the  shape  of  the  African  continent  and 
hence  were  not  sure  that  they  could  sail  around  it  at  all. 
Some  of  the  geographers  thought  (none  of  them  had  any 
definite  knowledge)  that  Africa  terminated  in  a  southern 
cape  and  that  it  would  be  possible  to  sail  from  Portugal 
to  India.  Others  held  that  the  Indian  Ocean  was  a  closed 
sea  —  not  connected  with  the  Atlantic  —  and  that  it  was 
impossible  to  sail  around  Africa.  Some  even  thought  that 


186  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

the  African  coast  might  extend  as  far  south  as  the  pole. 
So,  as  these  sailors  journeyed  on  one  weary  mile  after 
another  in  a  southerly  direction,  they  became  very  much 
discouraged,  but  they  did  not  give  up  their  undertaking. 

Henry  died  in  1463,  but  the  king  of  Portugal  was  his 
nephew  and  a  very  intelligent  man  and  so  the  work  went 
on.  Some  people  complained  that  the  African  expeditions 
were  costing  too  much  money,  but  when  the  sailors  brought 
back  great  quantities  of  gold  and  numerous  natives  from 
Africa  to  be  sold  in  the  slave  markets,  they  seemed  to  be 
satisfied. 

Diaz  Finds  the  Southern  Cape  (1487).  The  crowning 
glory  of  these  Portuguese  voyages  was  that  made  by  Bar- 
tholomew Diaz,  in  1486  and  1487.  Diaz  left  Portugal 
with  three  small  vessels  in  August  of  1486.  After  sailing 
four  hundred  miles  beyond  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn,  he 
was  driven  directly  south  by  high  winds  for  thirteen  days 
without  being  in  the  sight  of  land.  After  the  wind  ceased, 
he  turned  towards  the  east,  expecting  to  see  the  shore. 
When  he  failed  to  sight  land,  he  turned  to  the  north  and 
finally  caught  sight  of  the  coast  more  than  two  hundred 
miles  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  had  rounded 
the  southern  cape  without  knowing  it.  He  then  sailed 
four  hundred  miles  farther  east,  out  into  the  Indian  Ocean 
and  was  well  on  his  way  towards  India,  when  his  worn- 
out  crew  refused  to  proceed  farther.  Diaz  then  turned 
back.  If  he  had  been  a  Columbus  or  a  Magellan,  he 
probably  would  not  have  done  so.  On  the  homeward  trip, 
Diaz  passed  near  the  southern  cape  and  named  it  the 
"Cape  of  Storms,"  on  account  of  the  wind  and  waves 
which  dashed  against  it.  When  he  made  his  report  of 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  DISCOVERY  187 

the  voyage,  however,  the  king  of  Portugal  struck  this  name 
off  the  map  and  put  in  its  place  the  one  more  familiar 
to  us  —  the  "Cape  of  Good  Hope."  He  had  a  hope  that 
his  men  had  solved  the  great  problem  and  had  found  the 
long-sought-for  route  to  the  Indies. 

This  was  a  memorable  age.  Diaz  returned  to  Lisbon  in 
December,  1487,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  a  year  and  a 
half.  During  that  time,  he  traveled  thirteen  thousand 
miles  and  exploded  many  of  the  myths  and  superstitions 
which  hung  over  the  sea  of  darkness.  He  encountered  no 
fiery  zone  and  he  got  back  up  the  hill  again  without 
difficulty.  It  might  also  be  well  to  remember  that  one 
member  of  his  party  on  this  voyage  was  Bartholomew 
Columbus,  a  younger  brother  of  the  famous  Christopher. 

The  Spaniards  Seek  a  Route  to  the  East.  The  Span- 
iards were  also  an  enterprising  people,  and,  while  the  Por- 
tuguese were  seeking  a  route  to  the  East,  they  were  by  no 
means  idle.  In  fact,  there  was  a  great  race  between  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Spaniards  to  see  which  should  reach 
India  first.  The  Portuguese  had  made  a  good  start  under 
Diaz,  but  they  had  not  yet  reached  the  goal.  Now  the 
Spaniards,  under  the  guidance  of  Christopher  Columbus, 
tried  to  find  a  route  to  India  in  an  entirely  different  direc- 
tion. We  shall  read  the  wonderful  story  of  Columbus  in 
the  next  chapter. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Trace  the  three  principal  trade  routes  to  the  East. 

2.  Suppose  Diaz  had  gone  on  until  he  reached  the  East  Indies,  would 
Columbus  still  have  tried  to  find  a  different  route?    Keep  this  question 
in  mind  hi  the  next  chapter. 

3.  If  you  made  the  trip  to-day  by  water  from  Genoa  to  India  what  route 
would  you  use?    Why  did  not  some  one  try  this  route  then? 


188  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

4.  Why  was  the  capture  of  Constantinople  a  turning  point  hi  history? 

5.  Why  was  Prince  Henry's  work  so  valuable?    What  did  Diaz's  voyage 
find  out? 

6.  Tell  something  about  the  following:    Cape  of  Storms,  chimeras  and 
gorgons,  the  Norse  discovery,  "  Desire  to  do  well." 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

astrolabe.    as'tr6-lab  Guinea.     gln'I 

Bartholomew      Diaz.  bar-thftl'd-mu      Madeira,     md-de'ra 

de'as  Magellan.     md-jSl'an 

Canary,    kd-na'rf  Morocco.    m6-r6k'o 

chimera,    kl-me'rd  Sagres.    sa'gres 

gorgon.    gor'gtfn 


CHAPTER  XIX 
COLUMBUS    SEEKS    A   ROUTE   TO   INDIA 

"  The  first  voyage  of  Columbus  is  a  unique  event  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  Nothing  like  it  was  ever  done  before,  and  nothing 
like  it  can  ever  be  done  again.  No  worlds  are  left  for  a 
future  Columbus  to  conquer." 

"To  sail  the  seas  was  in  those  days  a  task  requiring  high  mental 
equipment;  it  was  no  work  for  your  commonplace  skipper." 

"Human  courage  has  never  been  more  grandly  displayed  than  by 
the  glorious  sailors  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries."  — 
JOHN  FISKE. 

While  the  hardy  seamen  of  Prince  Henry  were  making 
their  plans  on  the  high  promontory,  Christopher  Columbus 
was  puzzling  over  the  same  great  problem,  in  a  somewhat 
different  way,  in  the  quiet  seclusion  of  one  of  the  Madeira 
Islands,  three  hundred  miles  out  from  the  mainland.  It 
is  interesting  to  watch  the  progress  of  this  race  for  the 
Indies. 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA 


189 


/ 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


190  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Christopher  Columbus  was  born  of  humble  parents  in 
the  city  of  Genoa,  Italy,  about  the  year  1446.  His  father 
was  a  woolen  weaver  and  the  young  Columbus  also  called 
himself  a  " wool- worker  of  Genoa."  We  know  very  little 
about  his  boyhood,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  did  not  at- 
tend school  very  regularly.  Very  few  boys  did  so  in  Italy 
at  this  time.  Some  say  that  he  attended  a  university, 
but  there  does  not  seem  to  be  very  good  proof  of  this. 
He  tells  us  himself  that  he  went  to  sea  at  fourteen,  but 
he  probably  returned  at  intervals  and  studied  astronomy, 
mathematics,  and  geography.  He  was  especially  fond  of 
geography  and  liked  to  draw  maps.  He  became  so  skill- 
ful in  this  respect  that  he  made  maps  and  sailing  charts 
and  sold  them  to  the  navigators  of  the  time.  There  was 
a  brisk  demand  for  these  things,  because  sailors  were 
pushing  out  to  sea  on  all  sides. 

He  also  made  voyages  himself.  At  times,  we  find  him 
upon  merchant  ships  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  again 
fighting  Turkish  pirates  in  eastern  waters. 

Christopher  Columbus  had '  a  younger  brother,  named 
Bartholomew,  who  was  really  as  good  a  sailor  as  he  and 
some  think  a  better  map  and  globe  maker.  When  a 
young  man,  Bartholomew  went  to  Lisbon  because  he  was 
interested  in  the  great  work  of  Prince  Henry  and  his  men. 
Bartholomew  also  took  a  part  in  the  African  voyages  and, 
as  we  have  already  noted,  he  was  with  Diaz  on  his  memo- 
rable voyage  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

A  short  time  after  Bartholomew  went  to  Lisbon  (1470) 
Christopher  Columbus,  attracted  by  the  same  means, 
turned  his  face  towards  the  Portuguese  capital.  He  too 
saw  the  tremendous  importance  of  the  work  which  Prince 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA 


191 


Henry  was  doing  and  wished  to  have  a  part  in  it.  He 
tells  us  himself  that  he  accompanied  some  of  the  expedi- 
tions down  the  African  coast. 

Columbus,  however,  did  not  give  his  entire  attention  to 
navigation  while  in  Lisbon.  A  short  time  after  coming 
to  that  city,  he  attended  mass  in  the  chapel  of  the  Con- 


MAP  OF  THE  KNOWN  WORLD  IN  THE  TIME  OF  COLUMBUS 

vent  of  All  Saints  and  there  met  a  young  woman,  named 
Felipa,  who  afterwards  became  his  wife.  Felipa  was  a 
member  of  an  old  and  aristocratic  family  and  her  father 
was  a  famous  Italian  navigator.  He  left  a  number  of 
maps  and  sailing  charts  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Columbus  and  were  a  great  assistance  to  him.  Soon 
after  his  marriage,  Columbus  went  to  a  small  estate 
owned  by  his  wife's  family  in  Porto  Santo  (the  Holy 


192  INTRODUCTION    TO   AMERICAN   HISTORY 

Port),  one  of  the  Madeira  Islands,  three  hundred  miles 
out  to  sea.  Here,  in  quiet  seclusion,  he  meditated  upon 
the  great  problem  and  made  plans  for  his  western  voyages. 
Many  sailors  on  their  way  back  from  Guinea  and  other 
parts  of  the  African  coast  touched  at  Porto  Santo,  and 
from  these  men  Columbus  eagerly  sought  all  the  in- 
formation he  could  get. 

Columbus  became  impatient,  however,  to  be  back  at 
the  center  of  things  and  so  returned  to  Lisbon.  At  the 
time  of  his  return,  every  one  was  talking  and  thinking 
of  the  African  voyages  and  of  the  water  route  to  India. 
Alfonso  V,  king  of  Portugal,  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
whole  scheme.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Portuguese 
sailors  brought  back  the  news  that  the  African  coast 
turned  south  at  the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  This  was  rather 
discouraging  information  and  Alfonso  thought  of  trying 
to  find  some  other  way  to  India.  So  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Toscanelli,  the  Italian,  who  was  perhaps  the  most  famous 
astronomer  and  geographer  of  his  day,  and  asked  him  if  he 
thought  it  possible  to  find  a  shorter  route  than  the  one 
which  his  sailors  were  seeking  down  the  African  coast. 
Toscanelli  sent  in  reply  a  long  letter  to  the  king  and 
enclosed  a  map  of  his  own  making,  showing  India  and 
China  directly  west  of  Spain.  This  letter  was  dated 
June  25,  1474. 

Columbus  Seeks  Information  from  Toscanelli.  Colum- 
bus heard  about  this  letter  to  the  king  and  he  too 
asked  Toscanelli  to  give  him  what  information  he  could 
in  regard  to  the  route  to  the  East.  Toscanelli  replied 
by  sending  to  Columbus  copies  of  the  letter  and  map 
which  he  had  previously  sent  to  the  king  of  Portugal. 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  193 

Columbus  must  have  devoured  this  letter  with  great 
eagerness. 

Toscanelli  told  him  that  China  and  Japan  lay  to  the  west 
of  Spain,  and  could  undoubtedly  be  reached  by  sailing  directly 
westward.  He  did  not  know,  of  course,  anything  about 
the  existence  of  the  great  American  continent,  and  was 
also  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  size  of  Asia.  He  thought 
that  Japan  was  located  in  that  part  of  the  globe  occupied 
by  Mexico  and  was  therefore  much  nearer  to  Spain  than 
it  really  is.  He  regarded  the  western  voyage  as  a  splendid 
idea.  He  said  to  Columbus  in  a  second  letter,  "I  regard 
as  noble  and  grand  your  project  of  sailing  from  west  to 
east.  .  .  .  When  that  voyage  shall  be  accomplished,  it 
will  be  a  voyage  to  powerful  kingdoms  and  to  cities  and 
provinces  wealthy  and  noble,  abounding  in  all  sorts  of 
things  most  desired  by  us;  I  mean  with  all  kinds  of 
spices  and  jewels  in  great  abundance."  Columbus  must 
have  been  greatly  elated  when  he  read  these  words  writ- 
ten by  one  of  the  ablest  scientific  men  of  the  time.  He 
prized  these  letters  very  highly  and  took  the  map  with 
him  on  his  first  western  voyage. 

Columbus  Seeks  Money  for  His  Voyage.  Columbus 
obtained  information  from  other  sources  also  —  both  from 
men  and  from  books.  The  next  thing  to  do  was  to  obtain 
money  to  fit  out  his  expedition,  and  he  found  it  far  easier 
to  get  information  than  to  get  money. 

Naturally  enough,  he  first  appealed  to  the  king  of 
Portugal  for  aid.  The  king  at  this  time  was  John  II, 
a  nephew  of  Prince  Henry,  and  hence  interested  in  the 
whole  problem  of  a  water  route  to  the  Indies.  But  Colum- 
bus came  to  him  only  a  short  time  before  Diaz  started 


194  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

on  his  famous  voyage  and  the  king  said  that  he  could  not 
afford  to  undertake  any  voyages  in  addition  to  those 
down  the  African  coast.  He  did,  however,  submit  the 
plan  of  Columbus  to  a  number  of  his  learned  men  and 
asked  them  what  they  thought  about  it.  Most  of  them 
said  that  the  plan  was  visionary  and  absurd  and  that  no 
attention  should  be  paid  to  it.  A  few  of  them,  nevertheless, 
defended  the  ideas  of  Columbus,  but  King  John  gave  him 
no  financial  assistance. 

However,  he  stooped  to  a  trick  most  unworthy  of  a 
king.  He  tried  to  steal  the  grand  idea  of  Columbus.  He 
took  the  sailing  plans  which  Columbus  had  submitted  to 
him  and  dispatched  a  vessel  in  haste  and  secrecy  with 
instructions  to  sail  west  from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  and 
see  if  India  could  really  be  reached  in  that  way.  The 
sailors'  hearts  were  not  in  the  enterprise  and  they  soon 
returned  to  Lisbon,  scared  half  to  death.  They  were  sure 
that  Columbus's  plans  were  all  moonshine.  "You  might 
as  well  expect  to  find  land  in  the  sky,"  they  said,  "as  in 
that  waste  of  water."  When  Columbus  found  what  a 
shabby  trick  the  king  had  tried  to  play  on  him,  he  left 
Portugal  in  anger  and  disgust  and  went  to  Spain  for  the 
purpose  of  asking  aid  from  the  King  and  Queen  of  Spain, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  He  took  with  him  his  little  son, 
Diego,  who  was  then  four  or  five  years  of  age,  and  left  him 
with  an  aunt  in  a  small  town  near  Palos.  His  wife  he 
never  saw  again,  as  she  died  soon  after  his  departure. 

Columbus  in  Spain.  Columbus  appeared  in  Spain  at  a 
very  unfavorable  time.  The  Spanish  monarchs  had  other 
business  on  hand.  They  were  trying  to  keep  the  Moors 
from  their  door.  These  terrible  Moors  had  invaded  Spain 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  195 

about  eight  hundred  years  before  and  the  Spaniards,  after 
much  fighting,  had  not  been  able  to  dislodge  them.  The 
Spanish  monarchs  were  now  engaged  in  another  desperate 
attempt  to  drive  them  out  of  Spain  and  had  no  tune 
to  listen  to  Columbus.  They  were  following  the  army 
about  from  place  to  place  and  holding  court  wherever  they 
happened  to  be.  Everything  was  in  confusion  and  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella  were  more  intent  upon  packing  the 
Moors,  bag  and  baggage,  back  to  Africa  than  in  making 
voyages  to  unknown  lands. 

However,  they  referred  the  plans  of  Columbus  to  cer- 
tain learned  men  for  their  opinions.  As  usual,  the  scholars 
were  divided.  Some  of  them  said  that  the  plan  was  a 
crazy  one  and  ridiculed  Columbus  as  a  madman,  while 
others,  some  of  them  priests,  thought  that  it  might  be 
well  to  give  his  plans  a  trial.  But  the  committee  was 
so  hopelessly  divided  that  no  decision  was  reached. 

Weary  of  waiting,  Columbus  left  Spain  (1488)  and  went 
to  Lisbon  to  see  his  brother  Bartholomew,  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  Diaz  expedition  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  The  news  that  the  Portuguese  had  been  successful 
in  rounding  the  Cape  made  him  all  the  more  impatient 
to  try  his  plan  for  a  western  voyage.  He  had  already 
asked  aid  from  Portugal  and  Spain,  and  some  think  from 
Genoa.  He  now  sent  Bartholomew  to  place  the  matter 
before  the  kings  of  England  and  France.  On  his  way 
to  England,  Bartholomew  was  captured  by  pirates  and 
delayed  for  a  while,  but  he  finally  reached  London  and 
laid  the  plans  of  his  brother  before  the  king.  But  the 
king  (Henry  the  Seventh),  although  interested  in  the 
scheme,  was  very  slow  about  spending  money  in  doubtful 


196  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

voyages  and  did  not  come  to  an  immediate  decision. 
Bartholomew  could  not  wait  and  pushed  on  to  France. 

By  the  time  that  Bartholomew  went  to  France,  Chris- 
topher had  returned  to  Spain  in  the  hope  that  some 
change  for  the  better  might  have  taken  place.  In  this  he 
was  again  disappointed.  The  Moors  were  still  holding  their 
own  against  the  Spaniards  and  large  parts  of  the  country 
were  being  laid  waste  by  flood  and  famine.  The  monarchs 
had  no  time  and  no  money  to  give  to  " visionary"  and 
" crazy"  enterprises.  They  thought  Columbus  was  a 
" crank"  with  some  wild  idea  in  his  head.  Columbus  then 
entered  the  Spanish  army,  and  fought  with  great  bravery 
against  the  Moors.  At  the  same  time,  he  tried  to  interest 
wealthy  men  in  his  plan,  but  nothing  practical  came  of  the 
attempt.  He  spent  two  years  in  this  way.  No  one  would 
listen  to  him.  The  whole  country  was  gathering  its  strength 
for  a  mighty  effort  against  the  Moors.  Their  famous 
stronghold,  Granada,  was  to  be  seized  and  "the  whole 
country  was  in  a  buzz  of  excitement."  Columbus  tagged 
about,  following  the  camp  and  court  from  place  to  place, 
but  all  to  no  avail.  Disgusted  and  discouraged  to  the  last 
degree,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  quit  Spain  and  to  lay  his 
plans  before  the  King  of  France.  Bartholomew,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  had  set  out  for  both  England  and 
France,  but  Christopher  had  not  heard  a  word  from  him 
since  his  departure. 

Columbus  was  growing  old  under  the  weight  of  his  years 
and  his  disappointments  and  was  undoubtedly  becoming 
somewhat  peculiar  in  personal  appearance  as  well  as  in 
his  actions.  This  led  some  people  to  think  that  his  mind 
was  unbalanced.  "For  some  years  now,"  says  John 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  197 

Fiske,  "the  stately  figure  of  Columbus  had  been  a  famil- 
iar sight  in  the  streets  of  Seville  and  Cordova,  and  as  he 
passed  along,  with  his  white  hair  streaming  in  the  breeze 
and  his  countenance  aglow  with  intensity  of  purpose 
or  haggard  with  disappointment  at  some  fresh  rebuff, 
the  ragged  urchins  of  the  pavement  tapped  their  heads 
and  smiled  with  mingled  wonder  and  amazement  at  this 
madman." 

Seventeen  years  had  passed  since  Columbus  had  written 
to  Toscanelli,  asking  his  opinion  of  the  western  voyage, 
and  during  that  time  he  had  labored  incessantly,  but  had 
apparently  accomplished  nothing.  Now  as  he  took  his 
little  son,  Diego,  by  the  hand  and  set  out  for  France,  his 
thoughts  must  have  been  gloomy  enough.  An  ordinary 
man  would  have  given  up  in  despair. 

As  he  journeyed  along  the  road,  it  is  said  that  the  little 
boy  became  hungry  and  thirsty  and  that  the  two  travelers 
stopped  at  a  monastery,  a  short  distance  from  Palos,  arid 
asked  for  food  and  drink.  Here  the  prior,  or  head  man 
of  the  monastery,  fell  into  conversation  with  Columbus 
and  was  greatly  interested  in  his  plans.  He  was  a  broad- 
minded  man  and  called  in  other  learned  men  to  listen. 
They  were  also  impressed,  and  the  result  was  that  the 
good  prior,  who  knew  the  queen  well,  wrote  her  a  letter 
in  behalf  of  Columbus.  The  queen  gave  ear  at  once  and 
invited  the  prior  to  come  to  the  royal  court  and  to  bring 
Columbus  with  him.  In  due  time  the  two  men  appeared 
in  the  Spanish  Court,  near  Granada,  and  once  more 
Columbus  set  his  case  eloquently  before  a  council  of 
learned  men.  This  time,  the  scholars  looked  with  rather 
more  favor  than  formerly  upon  the  project.  Several  of 


198 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


the  priests  approved  his  plan  and  the  queen  promised  to 
take  up  the  matter  as  soon  as  Granada  had  fallen. 

The  Fall  of  Granada.  Fortunately,  they  had  not  long  to 
wait.  Columbus  went  to  Granada  again  to  ask  aid  in 
December,  1491,  and  on  January  2,  1492,  the  Moors  sur- 
rendered the  stronghold.  While  all  of  Europe  was  rejoic- 


COLUMBUS   BEFORE    QUEEN    ISABELLA 

ing  that  the  hated  Moors  had  been  overthrown,  the  queen 
and  Columbus  attempted  to  come  to  an  agreement  in  re- 
gard to  the  voyage.  They  failed.  Columbus  put  his 
terms  so  high  that  the  queen  would  not  accept  them. 
He  wanted  to  be  admiral  of  the  ocean  and  ruler  of  such 
heathen  countries  as  he  might  discover  and  to  have  one 
eighth  of  the  profits  of  the  voyage.  He  hated  the  Turks 
and  wished  to  use  the  profits  of  his  expedition  in  driving 
them  out  of  Jerusalem. 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  199 

The  Agreement.  The  queen  and  Columbus  could  not 
reach  an  agreement  and  so  the  latter  mounted  his  mule 
and  rode  out  of  Granada,  determined  to  seek  aid  from  the 
King  of  France.  Some  of  the  queen7 s  advisers  immediately 
rushed  to  her  and  convinced  her  that  Spain  was  losing  a 
valuable  opportunity  in  permitting  Columbus  to  go  to 
France.  A  messenger  was  accordingly  sent  on  a  swift 
horse  to  summon  Columbus  back  to  the  court.  The 
courier  overtook  him  about  six  miles  out  of  Granada  and 
induced  him  to  go  back  to  the  city.  Upon  his  return  an 
agreement  was  quickly  reached.  The  queen  practically 
accepted  the  terms  of  Columbus  and  the  agreement  was 
signed  April  17,  1492.  Columbus  was  overcome  with  the 
joy  of  the  moment  and,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  made  a 
vow  that  he  would  use  the  profits  of  the  expedition  in 
rescuing  the  Holy  Sepulchre  of  Christ  from  the  hands 
of  the  Turks. 

Preparations  for  the  Voyage.  Columbus  immediately 
went  to  Palos  (May  14,  1492)  and  began  the  preparations 
for  his  great  voyage.  His  bold  project  almost  struck  the 
people  of  the  little  seaport  town  Jumb  with  amazement. 
They  shuddered  at  the  very  thought  of  the  sea  of  dark- 
ness and  recoiled  from  the  terrors  of  the  " flaming  zone." 
Columbus  thought  that  a  voyage  of  twenty-five  hundred 
miles  would  bring  him  to  the  Indies.  If  the  real  distance 
—  twelve  thousand  miles  —  had  been  known,  the  sailors 
would  have  shuddered  still  more.  As  it  was,  it  was  very 
difficult  to  induce  any  one  to  undertake  the  voyage. 
Men  had  their  debts  abolished  and  criminals  were  released 
from  jail  on  condition  that  they  embark  with  Columbus. 
Three  small  vessels  were  made  ready.  The  largest  of 


200 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


these  was  the  Santa  Maria,  the  flag-ship  of  Columbus. 
The  second  in  size  was  a  faster  boat,  called  the  Pinta,  and 
the  smallest  was  the  Nina,  or  the  "  Baby." 

Finally,  everything  was  in  readiness.     All  was  excite- 
ment in  the  little  seaport  town.     Business  was  stopped 


THE  DEPARTURE  OF  COLUMBUS 

and  men  thought  only  of  the  mysterious  and  dangerous 
voyage.  The  hardened  mariners,  about  to  sail,  attended 
mass  and  confessed  their  sins,  in  order  to  be  prepared  for 
the  worst.  One  hundred  and  twenty  men,  including  ninety 
sailors,  a  physician,  and.  a  surgeon,  went  on  board  after 
tearful  good-byes,  and  on  Friday,  August  3,  1492,  an  hour 
before  sunrise,  the  ships  set  sail.  By  nightfall,  they  were 
forty-five  miles  away. 

Let  us  try  to  make  a  mental  picture  of  the  great  navi- 
gator, as  he  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  Santa  Maria,  peering 
out  into  the  western  darkness.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
"  a  man  of  noble  and  commanding  presence,  tall  and  power- 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA 


201 


fully  built,  with  fair,  ruddy  complexion  and  keen,  blue- 
gray  eyes  that  easily  kindled;  while  his  waving  white  hair 
must  have  been 
picturesque." 

He  was  also 
"  courteous  and  cor- 
dial in  his  dealings 
with  men"  and 
charming  in  his  con- 
versation. But  at 
the  same  time,  he 
had  "  an  indefina- 
ble air  of  authority 

about    him."      He  THE  SHIPS  OP  COLUMBUS 

expected  his  orders     The  three  ships  of  Columbus  look  like  play- 

tn    KP    nhpvpH        Tn      things   when   compared   with  a   modern   ocean 
3eyea.     in    jiner    The  largegt  of  the  three  was  only  65  feet 

addition,   he   had     in  length  and  20  in  breadth. 

"  that  divine  spark 
of  religious  enthusi- 
asm," which  ani- 
mated the  best  of 


the  crusading  heroes. 
Such  was  the 
great  Italian  navi- 
gator at  the  time  of 
his  departure  from 
Palos.  And  what 
was  his  service  to  the 
world?  He  was  not 
the  first  to  find  out 
that  the  earth  is  a  globe  and  not  a  flat  surface.  That  was 


A  MODERN  STEAMSHIP 

The  modern  ocean  steamship  is  a  marvel  of  speed 
and  comfort.  The  boat  represented  above  is  more 
than  15  times  as  long  as  the  largest  one  of  Colum- 
bus and  crosses  the  ocean  in  a  trifle  more  than 
four  days.  It  took  Columbus  about  seventeen 
times  as  long. 


202  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

done  by  the  Greeks  two  thousand  years  before  Columbus 
was  born.  Neither  was  he  the  first  to  suggest  the  idea  of  a 
western  passage  to  the  Indies.  Toscanelli  and  others  had 
talked  about  that,  and  at  the  time  of  Columbus  the  idea  of 
a  western  route  to  the  East  was  "  in  the  air."  Even  Aris- 
totle, eighteen  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Columbus, 
had  said  that  "  between  the  end  of  Spain  and  the  begin- 
ning of  India  the  sea  is  small  and  navigable  in  a  few 
days."  What,  then,  was  the  great  service  of  Columbus? 
It  was  this.  He  was  the  first  man  who  had  the  supreme 
courage  to  push  boldly  out  into  the  Sea  of  Darkness  in  search 
of  the  new  route  which  other  men  were  merely  talking  about. 

"What  if  wise  men,  as  far  back  as  Ptolemy, 
Judged  that  the  earth  like  an  orange  was  round, 
None  of  them  ever  said,  'Come  along,  follow  me, 
Sail  to  the  West  and  the  East  will  be  found.'" 

The  First  Voyage  (1492).  Columbus  sailed  directly  to 
the  Canary  Isles,  where  he  remained  for  some  time  making 
repairs  on  the  Pinta.  The  ship's  rudder  was  broken  and 
he  suspected  that  some  of  her  sailors  had  broken  it  so  that 
they  and  the  ship  might  be  sent  back  to  Spain.  Some  of 
the  sailors  were  already  tired  of  their  bargain  and  shud- 
dered at  the  thought  of  turning  west  from  the  Canaries. 
While  they  were  delaying  at  the  Canaries,  a  volcano 
on  one  of  the  islands  erupted  violently  and  they  were  sure 
that  this  was  a  very  bad  omen.  There  was  a  rumor  also 
that  Portuguese  sailors  were  lurking  in  the  nearby  waters 
for  the  purpose  of  capturing  Columbus  and  of  carrying 
him  off  to  Portugal. 

The  little  vessels  set  out  from  the  Canary  Islands  on 
the  sixth  day  of  September.  The  sea  was  calm  enough, 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE  TO  INDIA  203 

but  the  crew  was  much  disturbed.  Their  minds  were 
filled  with  dismal  forebodings  and  the  farther  they  went, 
the  louder  became  the  grumbling.  In  order  to  keep  them 
as  quiet  as  possible,  Columbus  did  not  tell  them  the  real 
distance  which  the  ships  sailed  each  day.  He  always  sub- 
tracted something  so  that  the  sailors  should  not  know  their 
real  distance  from  Spain. 

All  eyes  were  eagerly  watching  for  every  sign  of  life  or 
land.  A  few  days  out  from  the  Canaries,  they  saw  a 
large  piece  of  a  ship's  mast  and  probably  wondered  what 
the  fate  of  the  ship  had  been.  A  few  days  later,  they  saw 
two  birds;  then  they  ran  into  an  immense  prairie  of  sea- 
weed, alive  with  fish  and  crabs.  The  speed  of  the  vessels 
was  checked  and  they  were  afraid  for  a  time  of  running 
aground.  This  was  a  false  fear,  however,  as  weeds  grow 
in  this  locality  on  the  surface  of  water  which  is  more  than 
two  miles  in  depth.  Next  they  saw  a  flock  of  sand-pipers, 
and  a  little  later  they  were  sure  that  they  sighted  land 
in  the  distance.  After  they  had  finished  singing  a  song 
of  praise  to  God  for  their  success,  they  saw  that  the 
"land"  was  clouds  in  the  sky. 

They  sailed  on  through  heavy  rain  and  storms,  saw 
flying  fish  and  birds  of  various  kinds,  and  sighted  flocks 
of  wild  ducks  at  night,  flying  over  their  heads.  In  the 
meantime,  the  trade  winds  were  hurrying  them  on  towards 
the  west.  Would  the  wind  change  its  direction  and  waft 
them  back  again  to  their  homes?  The  sailors  thought  not 
and  some  of  them  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea 
to  push  Columbus  overboard  and  then  say  that  he  had 
tumbled  off  the  ship  while  gazing  at  the  stars.  The  com- 
plaints became  louder  and  more  dangerous.  Finally 


204  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Columbus  stood  up  in  all  his  dignity  and  told  his  men  that 
it  was  useless  for  them  to  complain,  as  he  had  started  out 
to  find  the  Indies  and  that,  with  the  help  of  God,  he  would 
keep  on  until  he  found  them.  On  the  very  next  night,  at 
ten  o'clock,  a  light  was  seen  moving  to  and  fro  in  the 
distance.  Four  hours  later  —  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  October  12,  1492  —  land  was  distinctly  seen  hi  the 
moonlight.  A  little  later  the  sails  were  dropped  and  the 
men  waited  eagerly  for  the  day  to  dawn. 

Columbus  was  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  world,  but  was 
not  aware  of  it.  At  daybreak,  he  went  ashore  on  one  of 
the  small  coral  islands  of  the  Bahama  group  and  took 
possession  of  the  land  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  queen 
of  Spain.  He  named  the  island  San  Salvador  (Holy 
Savior)  and  called  the  inhabitants  of  the  locality  "In- 
dians/' because  he  thought  he  had  reached  the  Indies. 

Strange  sights  greeted  the  eyes  of  the  Spaniards.  The 
landscape  was  beautiful,  but  the  trees  were  very  different 
from  those  of  Spain.  The  sailors  were  greatly  excited. 
They  thought  they  had  reached  the  rich  East  and  saw 
priceless  fortunes  almost  within  their  grasp.  Sailors,  who 
a  day  or  two  before  were  plotting  to  throw  the  great  ad- 
miral overboard,  now  kissed  his  hands  and  humbly  begged 
his  pardon.  Columbus  spent  about  three  months  beating 
about  among  the  islands  and  exploring  new  coasts.  He 
came  to  Cuba  and  thought  that  he  was  on  the  mainland 
of  Asia  and  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  the  great  Khan 
of  whom  Marco  Polo  had  written.  In  fact,  he  sent  two 
messengers  to  the  great  monarch  to  bring  him  messages 
of  greeting  and  good  will  from  the  king  and  queen  of 
Spain.  Instead  of  a  great  city  of  oriental  splendor,  how- 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO«IN>&IA>  ,^l]> 


2.03  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

ever,  with  golden  palaces  and  marble  bridges,  they 
found  villages  of  naked  savages,  in  the  midst  of  humble 
patches  of  corn,  potatoes,  and  tobacco.  It  is  here  too 
that  Europeans  first  saw  men  smoking.  The  leaves  of  the 
plant  were  rolled  up  in  the  form  of  a  tube,  somewhat 
resembling  the  modern  cigar,  and  lighted  at  one  end. 
These  tubes  were  called  tobaccos.  The  use  of  tobacco  was 
introduced  into  Europe  not  long  after. 

The  First  Colony.  Columbus  next  went  to  the  island 
which  we  now  call  Haiti,  but  which  he  called  the  "  Spanish 
Isle."  Columbus  was  charmed  by  the  beauty  of  the  place. 
The  trees  were  so  tall  that  they  seemed  to  touch  the  sky 
and  the  notes  of  the  nightingale  and  other  birds  echoed 
through  the  otherwise  silent  forests.  The  Indians  told 
him  that  the  island  contained  " large  mines  of  fine  gold" 
—  at  any  rate,  he  thought  they  told  him  this.  He  never 
could  be  quite  certain  of  what  the  Indians  said  because 
they  conversed  by  means  of  signs  and  mutterings. 

Being  delighted  with  the  island,  Columbus  determined 
to  establish  a  colony  there.  The  lumber  for  the  fort  and 
storehouse  was  furnished  in  a  most  unexpected  way.  On 
Christmas  morning,  before  daybreak,  the  Santa  Maria 
went  onto  a  sand  bank  and  was  dashed  to  pieces  on  the 
beach.  Her  boards  and  timbers  were  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  rude  building.  Fortunately  the  cargo  and 
provisions  were  saved,  thanks  to  the  prompt  assistance 
of  the  Indians.  About  forty  men,  including  artisans,  a 
tailor,  and  a  physician,  were  left  behind  in  the  new  col- 
ony with  provisions  and  seeds  enough  for  a  year.  This 
colony  was  the  first  white  colony  in  the  new  world,  if  we 
except  the  Norse  settlement  in  Vinland.  A  few  years 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  207 

later  (1498),  Bartholomew  Columbus  founded  Santo 
Domingo  on  the  island  of  Haiti  in  honor  of  his  father. 
This  is  "the  oldest  European  settlement  in  the  New  World 
which  still  exists"  the  first  colony  of  Columbus  having 
vanished  within  a  year. 

There  was  another  reason  for  the  founding  of  the  colony, 
aside  from  the  wreck  of  the  Santa  Maria  and  the  general 
desire  to  occupy  the  land  for  Spain.  The  commander  of 
the  Pinta,  who  was  unfriendly  to  Columbus,  suddenly  dis- 
appeared with  his  ship  and  no  trace  could  be  found  of  him. 
It  is  thought  that  he  wanted  to  get  back  to  Spain  before 
Columbus  did  and  thus  get  the  lion's  share  of  the  glory  for 
finding  the  route  to  the  Indies.  After  the  wreck  of  the 
Santa  Maria  and  the  departure  of  the  Pinta,  Columbus 
had  left  only  the  Nina,  the  baby  ship  of  the  fleet,  and  this 
tiny  vessel  would  not  be  able  to  carry  the  entire  party 
back  to  Spain. 

The  Journey  Home.  On  the  fourth  of  January,  1493, 
the  Nina  set  out  for  Spain.  Two  days  later,  she  met  the 
Pinta  off  the  northern  coast  of  Haiti.  The  commander  of 
the  latter  boat  hastened  to  explain  that  a  storm  had 
driven  him  out  to  sea  and  that  he  really  had  no  thought 
of  deserting  his  comrades.  Columbus  never  quite  believed 
him,  yet  the  two  vessels  now  set  out  for  Spain  together. 

The  homeward  passage  was  not  an  easy  one.  The 
trade  winds  compelled  the  ships  to  take  a  more  northerly 
course  and,  just  before  reaching  the  Azores,  they  were 
caught  in  a  storm  which  raged  furiously  for  four  days. 
No  one  thought  that  the  frail  vessels  could  weather  such 
terrific  gales  and  Columbus  feared  that  he  might  go  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  without  being  able  to  give  Ferdinand 


208  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

and  Isabella  an  account  of  his  great  voyage.  He  there- 
fore wrote  upon  parchment  two  reports  of  his  expedition 
and  directed  them  to  the  king  and  queen.  Each  of  these 
he  wrapped  in  cloth  and  wax  and  encased  in  a  barrel. 
One  of  them,  he  threw  into  the  sea  and  the  other,  he  kept 
on  shipboard. 

Finally,  the  land  appeared  —  an  island  of  the  Azores  — 
and  Columbus  sent  some  of  his  men  ashore  to  give  thanks 
for  their  safety  from  the  storm  by  saying  their  prayers 
in  a  small  chapel.  They  were  promptly  arrested  and  held 
for  several  days.  Columbus  finally  succeeded  in  getting 
the  governor  of  the  island  to  release  them. 

A  little  later,  another  terrible  storm  broke  over  the 
Nina  and  she  was  driven  to  the  coast  of  Portugal  and 
found  safety  by  running  into  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus 
River,  on  the  fourth  of  March.  The  news  soon  spread 
that  Columbus  and  the  Spaniards  had  returned  from  the 
Indies  and  there  was  excitement  in  the  air.  Great  crowds 
overran  the  vessel  and  swarmed  about  the  docks,  craning 
their  necks  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Indians  which  Colum- 
bus had  on  board.  It  is  said  also  that  the  surrounding 
water  could  not  be  seen  "so  full  was  it  of  the  boats  and 
skiffs  of  the  Portuguese."  Some  of  the  Portuguese,  feeling 
that  the  Spaniards  had  beaten  them  in  the  race  for  the 
Indies,  were  exceedingly  surly  and  wanted  to  have  Colum- 
bus put  to  death.  Fortunately,  better  counsel  prevailed 
and  no  attempt  was  made  upon  the  life  of  the  great 
mariner. 

Four  days  after  his  arrival,  the  king  of  Portugal  sent  a 
very  polite  note  asking  Columbus  to  visit  him  at  the  royal 
court.  The  invitation  was  accepted.  About  nine  years 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A  ROUTE  TO  INDIA  209 

before,  Columbus  had  visited  this  same  royal  court  and 
had  asked  assistance  from  this  same  king  and  his  plans 
had  been  rejected  by  the  learned  men  of  the  court  as 
" empty  talk"  and  "mere  prattle."  Things  had  changed 
since  that  time.  Now  Columbus  with  becoming  dignity 
reminded  King  John  that  he  was  too  late  —  that  he  had 
let  the  golden  opportunity  slip  by.  Some  of  the  men 
about  the  court  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  pick 
a  quarrel  with  Columbus  and  then  run  him  through  with 
a  sword.  But  King  John  would  not  listen  to  the  sug- 
gestion. 

After  remaining  in  Portugal  for  nine  days,  the  Nina 
put  out  to  sea  again  and  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Palos,  two  days  later,  the  fifteenth  of  March,  1493.  The 
news  of  Columbus' s  return  ran  like  wild-fire  about  the 
town.  The  relatives  of  the  sailors  rushed  to  greet  them. 
People  forgot  all  about  their  business  and  gathered  in 
eager  groups  to  listen  to  the  tales  of  the  sailors.  The  whole 
town  turned  out.  Bells  were  rung  and  chants  of  praise 
were  sung  to  the  Lord  for  deliverance  from  the  terrors  of 
the  Sea  of  Darkness. 

The  Surprise.  About  nightfall,  when  the  bells  were 
ringing  and  the  people  were  surging  up  and  down  the 
streets,  with  lighted  torches  in  their  hands,  another 
familiar  looking  vessel  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor. 
Men  peered  at  her  through  the  gathering  darkness.  She 
was  no  other  than  the  Pinta.  The  two  ships  had  been 
separated  in  the  storm  off  the  Azores  and  each  thought 
that  the  other  had  been  lost.  The  meeting  was  a  happy 
one  and  March  15th  thus  became  a  notable  day  in  the 
history  of  Palos. 


210  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Columbus  at  the  King's  Court.  The  weeks  following 
Columbus's  return  were  the  happiest  time  in  his  whole 
life.  He  was  summoned  to  the  royal  court  at  Barcelona 
and  his  journey  there  was  like  a  triumphal  procession. 
Crowds  of  people  stood  by  the  roadside  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  great  navigator  as  he  passed  with  his  stuffed  birds, 


COLUMBUS  AT  BARCELONA 

live  parrots,  and  wild  Indians  which  he  had  brought  back 
from  the  Indies.  At  the  royal  court,  he  was  received  with 
the  highest  honor.  The  king  and  queen  awaited  his  com- 
ing "on  a  richly  decorated  seat,  under  a  canopy  of  cloth 
and  gold."  They  rose  when  he  appeared  and  made  him 
take  a  seat  at  their  side.  This  was  the  highest  honor 
which  they  could  confer  upon  him. 

The    Pope's    Line    (1493).     Ferdinand   and   Isabella   at 
once  informed  the  Pope  of  the  voyage  of  Columbus  and 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE  TO  INDIA  211 

told  him  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  which  he  had 
found  off  the  coast  of  Asia  were  well  fitted  to  receive  the 
Christian  religion.  They  also  asked  him  to  define  the 
rights  of  Spain  in  the  new  territory  so  that  there  would 
be  no  quarrel  with  Portugal.  This  the  Pope  did  by  his 
famous  Line  of  May  4,  1493  (see  map,  page  221).  He  said 
that  the  Spaniards  should  have  all  the  heathen  lands  which 
they  might  discover  west  of  a  meridian  drawn  one  hundred 
leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  and  that  the  Portu- 
guese should  have  similar  rights  on  the  east  side  of  this  line. 
In  the  following  year,  the  two  nations  agreed  by  treaty  to 
place  the  "line  fence"  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
west  of  the  islands.  It  was  still  supposed  to  be  in  mid- 
ocean,  but  really  was  not,  and  the  blunder  unexpectedly 
gave  Brazil  to  Portugal. 

The  Second  Voyage  (1493).  Columbus,  however,  did 
not  spend  much  time  in  the  ease  and  luxury  of  the  royal 
court.  He  began  preparations  at  once  for  his  second 
voyage  and  sailed  —  this  time  from  the  port  of  Cadiz  — 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  1493. 

This  expedition  was  not  much  like  the  little  terror- 
stricken  one  which  had  sailed  from  Palos  the  year  before. 
This  time  there  were  seventeen  ships,  carrying  fifteen  hun- 
dred men,  together  with  horses,  sheep,  cattle,  vegetables, 
grain,  grapevines,  fruit  trees,  and  almost  everything  else 
that  might  be  needed  in  a  new  colony.  The  ships  stopped 
at  the  Canaries  and  added  calves,  goats,  pigs,  chickens, 
as  well  as  orange,  lemon,  melon,  and  sugar-cane  seeds 
to  their  cargo.  No  women  accompanied  the  expedition. 
Every  one  on  board  thought  that  he  was  to  sail  directly 
to  the  Indies  —  the  land  of  jewels  and  spices.  Some 


212  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

thought  was  also  given  to  the  welfare  of  the  souls  of  the 
poor  benighted  heathen.  A  priest  was  appointed  "  Vicar 
of  the  Indies"  and  he  was  probably  the  first  to  say  mass 
on  the  western  shores.  It  was  also  planned  that  the  good 
Vicar  was  to  have  the  assistance  of  native  mission- 
aries. Six  of  the  savages,  brought  over  by  Columbus 
were  still  living  and  these  had  been  baptized  in  Barce- 
lona with  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  as  godfather  and  god- 
mother. These  men  were  to  aid  in  the  conversion  of  their 
people.  One  of  them,  however,  died  soon  after  his  bap- 
tism and  was  said  by  the  Spaniards  to  be  the  first  Indian 
to  enter  the  portals  of  heaven. 

It  was  not  very  difficult  to  get  men  for  this  voyage. 
Columbus  wanted  only  twelve  hundred,  but  fifteen  hun- 
dred insisted  on  going  and  the  ships  were  overcrowded. 
Many  nobles  and  other  distinguished  men  were  in  the 
company. 

Land  was  sighted  early  in  November  and  Columbus 
proceeded  to  cruise  about  among  the  islands  of  the  Carib- 
bean Sea.  Here  he  met  repulsive  cannibals  who  killed  a 
few  of  his  men  with  poisoned  arrows.  He  touched  Porto 
Rico  and  then  went  to  the  site  of  the  colony  founded  on 
the  island  of  Haiti,  the  year  before.  He  entered  the 
harbor  late  at  night  and  fired  a  salute  from  the  ship's 
cannon.  They  listened.  There  was  no  sound,  save  the 
echo  of  the  gun.  The  place  was  deserted.  About  mid- 
night, some  Indians  in  a  canoe  came  out  to  Columbus's 
ship  and  got  on  board.  The  redmen  explained  that  some 
of  the  colonists  had  died  of  disease  and  that  others  had 
married  Indian  wives  and  moved  away.  At  daybreak, 
Columbus  went  ashore  and  saw  enough  to  convince  him 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE  TO  INDIA  213 

that  his  colonists  had  been  massacred  by  the  Indians. 
Not  a  man  of  them  ever  appeared  and  no  one  to  this 
day  knows  exactly  what  became  of  the  forty  men  left  on 
the  island. 

"This  was  the  gloomy  welcome  to  the  land  of  promise." 
Columbus  selected  a  new  site  for  his  colony  —  a  little 
farther  to  the  east  and  on  the  north  coast  of  Haiti.  Here 
he  planned  a  town  which  he  called  "Isabella"  in  honor  of 
his  queen.  Quite  a  town  was  laid  out,  and  public  buildings 
were  made  of  stone  and  private  ones  of  wood  and  straw. 
But  the  work  was  hard  for  those  not  used  to  it  and 
many  became  ill  and  some  were  terribly  homesick  also. 
To  make  matters  worse,  Columbus  fell  sick  and  the  out- 
look for  Isabella  was  not  a  rosy  one. 

The  strain  upon  Columbus  had  been  intense  for  many 
years  and  his  illness  was  very  serious.  He  was  sick  for 
five  months  and  was  unconscious  for  a  part  of  the  time. 
One  day  when  he  regained  consciousness  he  was  surprised 
to  find  his  brother  Bartholomew  standing  at  his  bedside. 
He  had  not  seen  him  since  the  day  he  had  started  to  seek 
aid  from  the  king  of  England,  six  years  before.  It  was  a 
joyous  meeting.  The  two  brothers  were  exceedingly  fond 
of  each  other  and  now  Bartholomew  would  be  of  untold 
assistance  to  Christopher  in  starting  the  new  colony. 

The  Return  to  Spain  (March,  1496).  After  remaining 
in  the  New  World  for  nearly  three  years,  Columbus  went 
back  to  Spain  in  the  spring  of  1496,  leaving  his  brother 
Bartholomew  in  command  of  the  colony.  He  had  two 
boats  with  about  two  hundred  homesick  Spaniards  and 
thirty  Indians,  including  a  captive  Indian  prince,  with  a 
gold  chain  weighing  six  pounds  hanging  about  his  neck. 


214 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


Columbus's  reception  in  Spain  this  time  was  not  very 
cordial  —  not  much  like  the  reception  after  his  first  voyage. 
The  Third  Western  Voyage  (May  30,  1498).  Columbus 
had  not  brought  back  gold,  silver,  jewels,  silks,  and  spices 
in  any  very  large  quantities  and  so  his  voyages  were  com- 
ing to  be  looked  upon  as  failures;  however,  another  expe- 
dition was  fitted  out  and  in  the  spring  of  1498  Columbus 


THE  VOYAGES  OF  COLUMBUS 

set  sail  with  six  ships  and  two  hundred  men.  This  time 
he  bore  off  to  the  south  and  sailed  within  a  few  degrees 
of  the  equator.  Here  in  the  "belt  of  calms"  he  encoun- 
tered heat  that  was  almost  unbearable.  Washington 
Irving  in  his  "Life  of  Columbus"  describes  his  experiences 
as  follows:  "The  wind  suddenly  fell,  and  a  dead  sultry 
calm  commenced,  which  lasted  for  eight  days.  The  air 
was  like  a  furnace;  the  tar  melted,  the  seams  of  the  ship 
yawned;  the  salt  meat  became  putrid;  the  wheat  was 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE   TO  INDIA 


215 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


parched  as  with  fire;  the  hoops  shrank  from  the  wine  and 
water  casks,  some  of  which  leaked  and  others  burst,  while 
the  heat  in  the  holds  of  the  vessels  was  so  suffocating 
that  no  one  could  remain  below  a  sufficient  time  to  pre- 
vent the  damage  that  was  taking  place.  The  mariners 
lost  all  strength  and  spirits,  and  sank  under  the  oppressive 
heat.  It  seemed  as  if  the  old  fable  of  the  torrid  zone  was 
about  to  be  realized; 
and  that  they  were  ap- 
proaching a  fiery  re- 
gion where  it  would  be 
impossible  to  exist." 

Columbus  sailed  be- 
tween the  Island  of 
Trinidad  and  the  main- 
land of  South  America 
and  narrowly  escaped 
being  swamped  by  the 
rush  of  waters  from 
the  Orinoco  River. 


THE  DISCOVERIES  OF  COLUMBUS 

The  lands  touched  by  Columbus  on  his  vari- 
ous voyages  are  shown  in  black. 


He  was  greatly  interested  and  wanted  to  explore  farther 
west,  but  his  strength  failed  him  and  his  eyes,  strained 
with  constant  watching,  could  not  be  used  to  make  ob- 
servations; so  he  sailed  directly  from  Haiti  and  arrived  at 
the  town  of  Santo  Domingo  (founded  by  his  brother 
Bartholomew  in  1498)  just  after  the  departure  of  his 
brother  for  Spain. 

Things  had  not  been  going  well  in  the  Spanish  colony. 
The  men  were  discontented  and  rebellious  and  it  was 
necessary  for  Columbus  and  his  brother  to  rule  them  with 
an  iron  hand.  Complaints  were  sent  across  the  sea  to 


216  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Spain,  and  in  the  spring  of  1499  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
appointed  a  Spanish  general,  named  Bobadilla,  to  rule  in 
place  of  Columbus.  When  Bobadilla  reached  Santo 
Domingo,  the  first  sight  that  met  his  eyes  was  the  swing- 
ing bodies  of  seven  Spaniards  whom  Columbus  had  hanged 
for  rebelling  against  him.  Five  more  of  the  ringleaders 
were  in  prison  to  be  hanged  on  the  morrow.  Bobadilla 
was  prejudiced  against  Columbus  and  these  things  led  him 
to  believe  that  the  rule  of  the  navigator  had  been  cruel 
and  inhuman.  He,  therefore,  cast  Columbus  and  his 
brother  into  prison  and  soon  after  sent  them  to  Spain  in 
chains.  The  captain  of  the  ship  was  shocked  at  this 
treatment  of  Columbus  and  offered  to  take  off  his  fetters, 
but  the  great  admiral  would  not  consent  to  it.  He  said 
that  his  chains  should  never  come  off  except  by  the  order 
of  his  gracious  sovereigns,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ;  and  so 
with  his  fetters  clanking,  Columbus  walked  through  the 
streets  of  Cadiz. 

As  soon  as  the  king  and  queen  heard  of  his  sad  plight, 
they  ordered  him  to  be  released  and  invited  him  to  visit 
them  at  the  royal  court.  Money  was  also  sent  to  pay  his 
expenses.  When  he  arrived,  the  queen  received  him  with 
tear-dimmed  eyes  and  the  broken  old  man  threw  himself 
at  her  feet  and  sobbed  like  a  child.  The  monarchs  treated 
Columbus  in  a  very  kindly  way  and  assured  him  that 
Bobadilla  had  gone  beyond  his  instructions.  They  gave 
back  some  of  his  rights  and  privileges,  but  they  never 
fully  restored  him  to  power. 

The  Portuguese  Find  a  Route  to  the  East.  Columbus 
was  now  stunned  by  another  piece  of  important  news. 
The  Portuguese  had  reached  the  goal.  They  had  won  the 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE   TO  INDIA 


217 


race  to  the  Indies.  While  he  was  groping  around  among 
islands  inhabited  by  wretched  savages,  the  Portuguese  had 
found  the  real  Indies,  with  all  their  wealth  and  splendor, 
thousands  of  miles  away. 

The  discovery  was  made  in  this  way.  In  the  summer  of 
1497  —  while  Columbus  was  in  Spain  making  arrange- 
ments for  his  third  voyage  —  Vasco  Da  Gama,  "a  young 
man  of  unwavering  courage 
and  iron  resolution/7  following 
up  the  work  of  Diaz,  sailed 
from  Lisbon  and  reached  In- 
dia in  May  of  the  following 
year.  His  voyage  was  a  most 
remarkable  one.  Instead  of 
hugging  the  African  coast,  as 
Diaz  had  done,  he  sailed  off 
into  the  ocean  from  the  Cape 
Verde  Islands  and  was  out  of 
sight  of  land  for  ninety-three 
days —  "the  longest,  unbroken 
sea  voyage  up  to  this  time." 

He  returned  to  Lisbon  two  years  after  his  departure,  laden 
with  the  spices,  jewels,  silks,  and  fine  fabrics  of  the  East.  He 
had  seen  the  great  cities  and  had  talked  with  the  powerful 
rulers  and  there  was  absolutely  no  doubt  about  his  success. 
The  Portuguese  had  solved  the  great  problem  and  while 
Da  Gama  was  making  a  triumphal  entry  into  Lisbon 
(1499),  Columbus  was  being  ridiculed  as  "the  admiral  of 
Mosquito  Land,  the  man  who  had  discovered  a  land  of 
vanity  and  deceit,  the  grave  of  Spanish  gentlemen." 
Lisbon  and  not  Cadiz  grew  rich  from  the  eastern  trade. 


VASCO  DA  GAMA 


218  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

The  Fourth  Voyage  (1502).  We  may  be  sure  that  the 
success  of  Da  Gama  put  Columbus  on  his  mettle  for  another 
voyage.  Although  the  expeditions  had  not  been  profitable, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  ready  to  try  it  again.  Colum- 
bus hoped  to  find  a  strait  which  would  bring  him  into  the 
Indian  Ocean  and  to  the  same  shores  of  India  (Hindustan) 
which  Da  Gama  had  reached  by  sailing  eastward.  With  four 
small  ships  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  he  set  out  in 
May,  1502.  The  faithful  Bartholomew  was  again  at  his 
side.  By  the  irony  of  fate,  he  was  forbidden  to  visit  on 
the  outward  trip  the  colony  which  he  had  founded  in 
Haiti,  but  might  do  so  on  his  return.  One  of  the  ships 
having  become  disabled,  he  asked  permission  to  enter  the 
port  to  make  arrangements  for  another.  His  request  was 
denied.  He  then  encountered  the  most  terrible  storms 
that  he  had  ever  met.  For  eighty-eight  days,  his  ships 
were  tempest-tossed  and  during  that  time,  he  saw  neither 
sun  nor  stars.  He  explored  the  coast  of  Central  America 
and  was  then  shipwrecked  upon  the  coast  of  Jamaica, 
where  he  remained  for  a  year.  The  governor  of  the 
Spanish  colony  refused  him  assistance,  although  one  of  his 
men  went  all  the  way  in  a  canoe  to  ask  for  it.  This 
was  a  terrible  year.  Rebellion  sprang  up,  but  was  quelled 
by  the  strong  right  arm  of  Bartholomew.  Finally,  the 
governor  of  the  Spanish  colony  was  compelled  to  send  aid 
to  Columbus,  and  early  in  November,  1504,  he  was  back 
again  in  Spain. 

"One  woe  treads  on  another  woe's  heels."  His  staunch 
friend,  Queen  Isabella,  was  on  her  death-bed  and  passed 
away  about  two  weeks  after  the  landing  of  Columbus. 

It  was  thirty  years  since  he  had  written  his  famous  let- 


COLUMBUS  SEEKS  A   ROUTE  TO  INDIA  219 

ter  to  Toscanelli  and  the  weight  of  these  troubled  years 
had  borne  upon  him  with  crushing  effect.  He  was  now  an 
old  man,  broken  in  body  and  in  spirit.  He  lived  on  for 
a  year  and  a  half  in  poverty,  sickness,  and  obscurity  and 
died  on  the  twentieth  of  May,  1506.  The  annals  of  the 
city  in  which  he  died  made  no  mention  of  his  passing. 
The  event  was  not  considered  important. 

He  failed  to  find  a  route  to  the  Indies.  The  Portuguese 
had  won  the  race;  but  the  failure  of  Columbus  turned  out 
to  be  more  important  than  the  success  of  Vasco  Da  Gama. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Read  Joaquin  Miller's  poem  entitled  "  Columbus." 

2.  Imagine  yourself  to  be  Columbus  presenting  your  case  and  asking 
for  aid  at  the  court  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.     Make  such  a  speech  as 
he  might  have  made. 

3.  Columbia  is  the  poetical  personification  of  the  United  States.    We  sing 
"  O  Columbia,  the  Gem  of  the  Ocean,"  thus  paying  tribute  to  Columbus. 
Numerous  cities  and  towns  are  named  for  the  great  discoverer.     Look 
over  a  map  of  the  United  States  and  find  some  of  them. 

4.  How  long  did  it  take  Columbus  to  make  his  first  voyage?    In  what 
time  can  it  be  made  to-day? 

5.  Why  did  Columbus  make  so  many  voyages? 

6.  What  noble  traits  were  there  hi  his  character? 

7.  Tell    what   you    can   about   the   following:     Haiti,    Santo   Domingo, 
the  three  ships  of  the  first  voyage,  "the  line  fence,"  Toscanelli,  Palos, 
Porto  Santo,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

8.  What  was  the  greatest  service  of  Columbus? 

9.  Why  was  Columbus's  work  more  valuable  to  the  world  than  Vascc 
Da  Gama's? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Azores,    d-zorz'  Felipa.     fa-le'pd 

Bahama,     bd-ha'md  Granada,     grd-na'dd 

Barcelona.     bar'sS-lo'nd  Haiti,     ha'tl 

Bobadilla.    bo'ba-del'la  Jamaica,    jd-ma'kd 

Cadiz,     ka'dlz  Nina,     nen'yd 

Cordova.     kor'd6-va  Orinoco,     o'rf-no'ko 

Diego.    dS-a'go  Palos.     pa'los 


220 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


Pinta.     pen'td 

Porto  Santo,    por'too  san'too 

Ptolemy.     t6l'-£-mJ 

San  Salvador,     san  sal'va-dor' 

Santa  Maria,     san'ta  md-re'd 

Santo  Domingo,    san'to  d6-mlr)'gd 


Seville, 

Tagus.     ta'gGs 

Toscanelli.     tSs'ka-ngl'le 

Trinidad.     trln'I-dad' 

Vasco  da  Gama.     vas'ko  da  ga'ma 

Verde,    vtlrd 


CHAPTER  XX 
t 

THE    SUCCESSORS    OF    COLUMBUS 

John  Cabot  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  (1497-1498).  The 
King  of  England  (Henry  VII)  was  also  interested  in  the 
project  of  a  western  passage  to  India.  You  will  recall 

that  Bartholomew  Columbus 
had  talked  with  him  about 
the  matter  when  he  was  seek- 
ing aid  for  his  brother  Chris- 
topher, and  he  now  probably 
had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  made  a  mistake  in 
not  accepting  the  services  of 
Columbus.  So  in  1497,  a 
short  time  before  Da  Gama  set 
out  on  his  famous  voyage, 
King  Henry  sent  John  Cabot 
with  one  small  ship  and 
eighteen  men  to  try  to  find  a 
northwest  passage  to  the  East.  Cabot  sailed  from  Bristol 
and  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June  he  saw  land,  probably 
in  the  neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Labrador.  John 
Cabot  was  thus  the  first  European,  since  the  Northmen, 


JOHN  CABOT 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS 


!>  I    221 


All  newly  discovered  lands 
on  this  side  claimed  by  Spain 


All  newly  discovered  lands 
an  this  side  claimed  by  Portugal 


EARLY  VOYAGES  OF  DISCOVERY  AND  THE  POPE'S  LINE  OP  DIVISION 


222  (JHTRODUCTMN  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

to  set  eyes  upon  the  continent  of  North  America.  King 
Henry  was  so  greatly  pleased  at  the  success  of  the  voyage 
that  he  graciously  gave  Cabot  ten  pounds  (about  fifty  dol- 
lars) for  finding  what  he  called  the  "New  Isle."  It  was 
thought,  of  course,  that  Cabot  had  merely  discovered  an 
island  off  the  coast  of  Asia. 

In  the  following  spring,  Cabot  again  crossed  the  ocean 
and  this  time  he  explored  the  coast,  probably  as  far  south 

as  South  Carolina.  There  is 
no  record  that  the  gallant  sail- 
ors ever  returned  to  Europe 
from  this  voyage.  He  was 
probably  "lost  in  the  gloom 
of  the  western  ocean."  His 
voyages  are  important  because 
on  account  of  them  England 
laid  claim  to  the  entire  conti- 
nent of  North  America. 

Americus  Vespucius  Explores 
South    America    (1501).      The 

Portuguese  having   reached 
AMERICUS  VESPUCIUS  T    ,.       ,  .,.  .,  , 

India    by    sailing    south    and 

east,  now  began  to  send  out  expeditions  to  the  southwest. 
In  1501,  Americus  Vespucius  accompanied  one  of  these 
expeditions  which  explored  the  coast  of  South  America 
from  Cape  San  Roque  to  La  Plata  River  in  search  of  a 
southwestern  route  to  India.  Vespucius  passed  through 
such  beautiful  scenery  that  he,  like  Columbus,  on  the 
Pearl  Coast  of  South  America,  thought  that  he  could  not 
be  far  from  the  Garden  of  Eden.  From  the  mouth  of 
La  Plata  River,  the  expedition  turned  to  the  southeast  — 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS  223 

it  was  already  on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  Pope's  line  — 
and  went  as  far  as  the  island  of  South  Georgia,  twelve 
hundred  miles  east  of  Cape  Horn.  The  storms  were 
fierce  and  the  rough  sea  threatened  to  engulf  the  tiny  ves- 
sels at  any  moment.  At  South  Georgia,  they  found  no 
people  —  only  the  cold  gray  of  icebergs  and  glaciers. 
The  expedition  had  gone  farther  south  than  any  previous 
one  and  now  turned  about  and  started  back  home  through 
thousands  of  miles  of  trackless  ocean.  This  must  be  looked 
upon  as  one  of  the  greatest  voyages  ever  made. 

Vespucius  made  several  other  voyages  and  then  wrote  a 
brilliant  account  of  his  experiences  on  the  sea  —  a  part  of 
which  was  probably  not  true.  The  people  were  astonished 
at  the  wonderful  story  and  began  to  realize  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  sea-coast  over  which  he  had  traveled.  Vespucius 
had  explored  such  long  stretches  of  coast  that  the  people 
gradually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  new  land  was 
a  continent  and  not  an  island. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Martin  Waldseemuller, 
a  German  professor,  published  a  geography  in  which  he 
suggested,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  the  "new"  or 
" fourth"  part  of  the  earth  be  called  " America,"  in  honor 
of  its  discoverer,  Americus  Vespucius.  This  was  done. 
It  would  have  been  more  appropriate  to  name  the  New 
World  "  Columbia,"  in  honor  of  its  real  discoverer,  Chris- 
topher Columbus,  but  people  did  not  know  at  that  time 
that  there  was  any  connection  between  the  work  of  Colum- 
bus and  that  of  Vespucius.  It  was  thought  that  Ves- 
pucius had  discovered  a  new  southern  continent,  while 
Columbus  had  reached  the  islands  off  the  coast  of  India. 
Some  have  said  that  Vespucius  resorted  to  trickery  in 


224  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

order  to  have  the  New  World  named  in  his  honor,  but 
this  is  not  true. 

Balboa  and  the  Western  Route  (1513).  The  problem 
of  a  water  route  to  the  Indies  was  still  in  men's  minds. 
True,  the  Portugese  had  found  such  a  route  by  sailing 
around  Africa,  but  it  was  a  very  long  one  and  sailors  still 
hoped  to  find  a  shorter  western  passage.  Land  had  blocked 
the  paths  of  Columbus,  Cabot,  and  Vespucius,  but  it  was 
hoped  that  a  strait  might  be  found  which  would  lead  to 
the  rich  East. 

Balboa,  a  venturesome  and  courageous  Spaniard,  was  a 
planter  on  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands.  He  was  restless 
and  became  eager  for  discovery  and  exploration,  but  was 
so  heavily  in  debt  that  his  creditors  would  not  let  him 
leave  the  island.  So  he  had  himself  nailed  up  in  a  barrel 
and  carted  on  shipboard  with  packages  of  provisions  and 
thus  reached  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  When  he  arrived, 
the  Indians  told  him  of  another  sea  "  where  they  sail  with 
ships  as  big  as  his."  He  wanted  to  find  this  new  ocean 
and  so  he  pushed  across  the  Isthmus,  forty-five  miles  in 
eighteen  days,  where  "  thickets,  tangled  swamps,  slippery 
cliffs,  enormous  trees,  and  interlacing  vines,  blocked  the 
way  at  every  turn."  He  finally  reached  the  peak  of 
Darien  and,  climbing  alone  to  the  top,  he  looked  down 
upon  the  ocean  which  we  now  call  the  Pacific.  Profoundly 
impressed  at  the  sight  of  this  great  body  of  water,  he 
threw  himself  prostrate  upon  the  ground  and  then  raised 
himself  upon  his  knees  and  gave  thanks  to  God  for  per- 
mitting him  to  see  this  wonderful  sight.  A  little  later,  he 
rushed  into  the  billows  of  the  rising  tide  and  with  drawn 
sword  took  possession  of  the  sea  in  the  name  of  the  King 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS 


225 


of  Spain.  He  had  passed  the  obstruction  of  the  new  land, 
but  he  was  still  far  from  the  islands  where  the  spices  grew. 
Magellan  Sails  Around  the  Globe  (1519-1522).  In 
spite  of  all  the  obstacles  which  they  encountered,  the 
brave  sailors  were  not  ready  to  give  up  the  idea  of  a 


BALBOA  DISCOVERING  THE  PACIFIC 

western  route  to  India.  Ferdinand  Magellan,  a  Portuguese 
navigator,  when  a  boy,  had  witnessed  the  triumphal  re- 
turn of  Da  Gama  from  India.  Inspired  by  this,  he  pro- 
posed to  the  king  of  Portugal  that  another  western  voyage 
be  made,  but  the  king  would  not  listen  to  him.  "  Magellan 
was  not  the  man  to  sit  quiet  with  a  great  idea  in  his  head/' 
and  so,  like  Columbus,  he  went  to  the  king  of  Spain  and 
offered  his  services.  The  offer  was  accepted. 


226 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


Early  in  the  fall  of  1519,  Magellan  in  command  of  five 
Spanish  ships,  small  and  poor,  sailed  away  to  the  south- 
west, hoping  to  find  the  strait  through  the  new  continent 
which  would  lead  him  to  India.  He  coasted  along  the 
east  shore  of  South  America,  making  many  observations 
as  he  went,  and  finally  reached  the  straits  which  now 


MAGELLAN  LANDING  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

bear  his  name.  Here  one  of  his  five  ships  deserted  and 
went  back  to  Spain.  Passing  through  the  dangerous 
straits,  Magellan  sailed  out  into  the  ocean,  which  Balboa 
had  discovered  at  a  different  point,  a  few  years  before. 
This  he  named  the  "  Pacific,"  because  it  seemed  so  peace- 
ful, after  leaving  the  storms  of  the  Atlantic. 

With  great  suffering,  the  men  crossed  the  broad  Pacific 
and  finally  landed  in  the  Philippine  Islands.     Magellan 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS  227 

and  his  men  knew  very  little  of  the  climate  and  the  seasons 
in  the  southern  hemisphere  and  were  surprised  when  they 
were  compelled  to  go  into  winter  quarters  at  Easter  and 
when  they  found  the  summer  beginning  in  September. 

What  Magellan  and  his  men  suffered  on  this  voyage  can 
never  be  told.  They  fought  against  hunger,  cold,  heat, 
wind,  wave,  and  disease.  For  a  time  they  had  nothing  to 


MAGELLAN'S  EXPEDITION,  1519-1522 

eat  but  stale  crumbs.  The  water  which  they  drank  was 
yellow,  thick,  and  foul.  Bits  of  oxhide  were  taken  from 
the  rigging  of  the  ships  and  after  being  soaked  in  the  sea 
and  broiled,  were  eagerly  eaten.  While  in  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  many  of  his  men  wanted  to  turn  back,  but  the 
" Prince  of  Navigators/ '  with  his  " heart  of  triple  bronze" 
set  his  massive  jaw  and  said  "No."  He  said  that  he 
would  keep  on  even  if  he  had  to  eat  the  leather  of  the 
ship's  yards  —  which  he  was  later  compelled  to  do. 

Magellan's  own  troubles  came  to  an  end  in  the  Philip- 
pines. He  was  killed  by  the  savages  there  about  a  year 
and  a  half  after  his  departure  from  Spain.  Misfortunes 
never  seem  to  come  singly.  Accidents  also  befell  his  ships. 


228  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Two  of  them  were  wrecked  and  one  of  them  was  set  on 
fire  and  abandoned  when  she  became  leaky.  Only  one 
remained  —  the  little  Victoria  —  and  she  sailed  back  by 
way  of  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
after  an  absence  of  three  years.  She  had  eighteen  half- 
starved  survivors  on  board.  Two  hundred  thirty-nine 
men  had  embarked  in  the  five  vessels  three  years  before. 

The  men  who  had  been  around  the  world  were  greatly 
honored.  The  king  invited  them  to  his  court  and  listened 
with  great  interest  to  the  story  of  the  voyage  —  the  great- 
est one  ever  made.  To  the  captain  of  the  Victoria,  the 
king  gave  a  sum  of  money,  also  a  coat  of  arms,  upon  which 
was  a  globe,  with  this  inscription,  written  in  Latin,  "Thou 
first  encompassed  me/'  The  importance  of  this  voyage 
can  hardly  be  estimated.  It  proved  clearly  that  the  earth 
is  a  sphere.  It  also  disclosed  the  immense  width  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  It  showed  also  that  there  is  much  more 
water  than  land  upon  the  globe,  and  finally  that  America 
is  a  New  World  and  not  simply  a  part  of  Asia  as  Colum- 
bus had  thought. 

The  voyage  also  called  attention  to  some  strange  geo- 
graphical facts.  The  captain  of  the  Victoria  reached  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands,  as  he  thought,  on  the  ninth  of  July. 
He  found,  however,  that  it  was  really  the  tenth.  What 
had  become  of  the  lost  day?  The  sailors  were  puzzled 
and  greatly  worried.  They  were  afraid,  among  other 
things,  that  the  fasts  and  saints'  days  which  they  had 
observed  had  been  observed  on  wrong  dates.  Finally,  an 
Italian  scientist  gave  them  the  correct  explanation,  which, 
by  the  way,  an  old  Arabian  geographer  knew  all  about 
more  than  two  hundred  years  before. 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS  229 

The  desire  for  eastern  trade  was  also  whetted  by  this 
voyage,  as  it  was  shown  that  the  profits  were  amazingly 
large.  The  Victoria's  cargo,  composed  for  the  most  part 
of  twenty-six  tons  of  cloves,  was  sold  for  enough  to  pay 
the  entire  expense  of  the  expedition. 

The  Voyages  of  the  French.  And  now  France  began 
to  wake  up  and  take  an  interest  in  eastern  trade.  Francis 
I,  the  king  of  France,  wanted  to  share  the  prizes  and 
so  he  sent  John  Verrazzano,  an  Italian  sea-rover  and 
gentleman  pirate,  in  search  of  the  new  route  to  India. 
He  did  not  find  the  route,  but  he  did  explore  the 
Atlantic  coast  from  the  Cape  Fear  River  to  Newfound- 
land and  then,  owing  to  a  lack  of  provisions,  he  sailed 
away  to  France  (1524),  where  he  was  received  with 
great  honor.  Verrazzano  had  plans  for  the  founding  of 
colonies  and  the  doing  of  missionary  work  among  the 
Indians,  but  his  career  was  brought  to  a  close  when 
he  was  hanged  as  a  pirate,  three  years  after  his  return 
from  America. 

Cartier  in  the  St.  Lawrence  (1534).  Visions  of  the 
wealth  of  the  Indies  and  of  a  new  France  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic  continued  to  fill  the  minds  of  French- 
men. French  exploration  was  carried  on  by  Jacques 
Cartier.  This  experienced  navigator  and  fisherman  set 
out  with  two  ships  in  1534,  hoping  to  find  a  strait  to  the 
northwest  which  would  lead  him  to  the  land  of  Marco 
Polo.  He  reached  the  broad  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  and  there  in  the  presence  of  a  band  of  Indians  set 
up  a  wooden  cross,  thirty  feet  in  height.  He  sailed  a 
short  distance  up  the  river,  now  absolutely  sure  that  he 
was  on  the  high  road  to  China.  When  the  colder  weather 


230  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

and  the  autumn  storms  came  on,  however,  he  kidnapped 
a  few  Indians  and  sailed  back  to  France. 

In  the  following  spring,  Cartier  and  his  sailors  gathered 
in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Malo,  went  to  confession,  listened 
to  the  mass,  and  received  the  blessings  of  the  Bishop. 
They  then  set  out  for  the  New  World.  This  time  Cartier 


CARTIER  AT  MONTREAL 

sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  present  site  of  Montreal 
(meaning  Royal  Mountain)  and  gave  to  the  place  the  name 
which  it  now  bears.  A  few  miles  farther  on,  his  course 
was  checked  by  the  rapids,  since  called  Lachine  (meaning 
China)  because  Cartier  and  his  men  thought  that  they  were 
well  on  their  way  to  China. 

The  Indians  had  never  seen  such  men  before  and  mar- 
veled at  them.    They  could  hardly  believe  that  they  were 


THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  COLUMBUS  231 

men.  They  seemed  to  be  gods  or  visitors  from  some  far- 
off  planet.  The  redmen  crowded  about  the  strangers 
crying  in  delight,  caressing  their  beards,  feeling  of  their 
clothing  and  rubbing  their  rough  faces,  and  looking  with 
awe  at  their  armor  and  firearms.  The  sick  and  the  maimed 
also  came  to  Cartier  and  asked  him  to  cure  them  by  his 
miraculous  power.  He  read  prayers  over  them  and  then 
the  Indian  women  spread  a  great  feast,  consisting  of  fish, 
corn,  beans,  and  other  things.  The  Frenchmen  did  not 
eat,  however,  as  the  food  was  not  particularly  clean. 

Cartier  and  his  men  spent  the  winter  on  board  their 
ships  and  suffered  terribly  from  the  cold.  They  had  never 
experienced  anything  like  it  before.  They  said  that  the 
ice  was  " above  two  fathoms  (twelve  feet)  thick"  and 
"snow  above  four  feet  high  and  more."  Twenty-five  men 
died  of  scurvy  and  were  buried  in  the  snow,  as  graves 
could  not  be  dug  for  them  in  the  frozen  ground.  At  one 
time,  a  hundred  out  of  a  hundred  and  ten  were  on  the 
sick  list.  They  reported  upon  their  return  to  France  that 
they  were  quickly  cured  of  the  disease  by  drinking  the 
juice  of  the  leaves  of  a  certain  tree  which  had  been  pointed 
out  to  them  by  the  Indians.  The  Indians  called  this  won- 
derful tree  the  "Ameda"  but  just  what  it  was,  we  do  not 
know.  Some  have  thought  it  the  spruce,  others  the  arbor 
vitae,  and  still  others  the  sassafras. 

In  the  spring,  when  the  ice  melted,  the  survivors  were 
glad  enough  to  go  back  to  their  homes  in  France. 

Cartier,  however,  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  give  up 
easily;  so,  a  few  years  later  (1541),  we  find  him  again 
preparing  to  visit  the  New  World.  He  crossed  the  At- 
lantic, pierced  the  fog  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  sailing 


232 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


past  "the  island  rocks,  crowded  with  screaming  sea-fowl, 
and  the  forests  breathing  piny  odors  from  the  shore,  cast 
anchor  again  beneath  the  cliffs  of  Quebec. "  This  time  he 
brought  cattle,  goats,  and  hogs  with  him  and  expected  to 
found  a  colony.  He  built  a  rude  fort  on  the  beautiful 
spot  where  Quebec  now  stands,  but  he  remained  there 


l.l.POATES  CO.,  K.Y 


EARLY  FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS 

only  a  few  months.  When  he  went  back  to  France,  he 
took  with  him  some  shiny  rock  crystals,  which  he  thought 
were  diamonds.  These  quartz  crystals  may  still  be  found 
at  some  places  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Cartier,  too,  failed  to  find  the  strait  leading  to  Asia,  but 
his  voyage  gave  the  French  a  claim  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
region.  Along  the  great  river  the  French  hoped,  at  some 
future  time,  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  New  France  in 
America. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST  233 

The  Strait  Leading  to  India.  And  now  what  about  the 
long-sought-for  strait  leading  to  India?  Men  kept  on 
seeking  for  it,  but  no  one  found  it,  simply  because  there 
was  no  strait  to  be  found.  To  solve  the  problem,  the 
United  States  made  a  waterway  —  the  Panama  Canal  — 
near  the  route  which  Balboa  traversed  just  four  hundred 
years  before.  The  problem  of  a  western  strait  was  solved 
by  the  shovel. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  What  is  the  explanation  of  the  "lost  day"? 

2.  Do  you  not  wonder  at  the  fact  that  the  work  of  these  explorers  was 
so  little  appreciated  while  they  lived? 

3.  Notice  as  you  go  along  what  permanent  mark  these  early  voyagers 
have  left  on  the  map  of  the  world  —  Americus  Vespucius,  America;  Magellan, 
Straits  of  Magellan;  Cartier,  Lachine  Rapids,  etc. 

4.  What  great  good  came  of  the  attempts  to  find  the  strait  leading  to  Asia? 

5.  What  do  you  think  of  our  government's  solution  of  this  problem? 

6.  Notice  the  changing  conception  of  the  " known  world"  since  Greek 
and  Roman  days.    Summarize  the  steps  that  changed  man's  notion  of  the 
size  and  shape  of  the  earth. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Balboa,    bal-bo'a  La  Plata,    la  pla'td 

Cabot,    kab'tft  Malo.    mS/lo 

Darien.    da'rf-en'  Philippines,    fil'1-plnz 

Jacques  Cartier.     zhak  kar'tya  San  Roque.    san  ro'ka 

Lachine.    Id-shen'  Verrazzano.    ver'rat-sa'no 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE   BEGINNINGS    OF   CONQUEST 

The  men  of  Europe  began  to  see,  after  a  time,  that  the 
New  World  might  be  more  important  than  the  Indies. 
So  some  of  them  gave  up  the  rainbow  chase  for  a  strait 


234  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

leading  to  India  and  began  the  exploration  and  conquest 
of  America.  In  this  work,  the  Spaniards  took  the  lead. 

Cortez  Conquers  Mexico  (1519-1521).  The  Spaniards 
started  out  from  Haiti  and  took  possession  of  Porto  Rico 
and  Cuba.  From  Cuba  a  bold  adventurer,  named  Her- 
nando  Cortez,  set  out  at  about  the  same  time  that  Magellan 
was  beginning  his  famous  voyage,  to  conquer  and  plunder 
the  rich  Indian  tribes  of  what  we  now  call  Mexico.  Cortez 
was  the  son  of  a  poor  country  gentleman  in  Spain  and  a  man 
of  courage^  shrewdness,  and  audacity.  He  was  secretary  to 
the  governor  of  Cuba,  who  appointed  him  to  command  the 
expedition  which  was  to  make  a  conquest  of  Mexico. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  1519,  Cortez  set  out  with 
eleven  vessels,  carrying  five  hundred  fifty  Spaniards,  about 
two  hundred  or  three  hundred  Indians,  one  negro,  and 
sixteen  horses.  He  landed  near  San  Juan  and  soon  made 
his  way  inland  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom.  Good  fortune  seemed  to  attend  him  from  the 
very  outset.  Just  when  defeat  seemed  certain,  Cortez 
would  somehow  come  out  victor  by  a  brilliant  stroke  of 
some  kind. 

The  Aztec  kingdom  which  Cortez  was  fighting  was  a 
sort  of  league  or  confederacy  of  Indian  tribes  under  an 
emperor  or  king  called  Montezuma.  The  Aztecs  were 
good  fighters,  although  they  apparently  knew  nothing  of 
the  use  of  iron.  They  were  skillful  archers  and  used  their 
club-like  swords  with  terrible  effect.  These  swords  were 
double  edged,  the  cutting  parts  being  made  of  a  sharp 
glassy  stone  called  obsidian. 

The  Spaniards  were,  of  course,  better  armed.  They 
carried  the  rude  firearms  of  their  day  and  their  bodies 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST 


235 


were  protected  by  heavy  armor.  Their  horses  also  were 
exceedingly  useful  in  the  fight.  The  Indians  had  never 
seen  such  strange  and  terrible  monsters  before  and  took 
to  their  heels  at  the  first  sight  of  them.  When  they 
stopped  running,  they  usually  got  behind  a  tree  or  a  wall 
and  peeped  timidly  out  to  see  what  the  strange  animals 
were  going  to  do.  The  Aztecs  largely  out-numbered  the 
invaders,  but  as  the  Spanish 
soldier  was  "a  bulldog  for 
strength  and  courage,'7  he  came 
out  triumphant  in  the  end. 

Cortez  believed  that  when  a 
man  set  out  to  do  a  thing,  he 
should  never  give  up;  so  be- 
fore starting  inland,  he  had  all 
of  his  ships  scuttled  and  sunk 
so  that  his  men  might  have 
no  thought  of  returning  to 
Cuba.  Cortez  did  not  tell  his 
men  at  first  what  his  purpose 
was  in  destroying  the  ships  and 
as  they  disappeared  one  at  a 
time,  the  men  became  suspicious  and  began  to  upbraid  their 
commander.  Finally  when  there  was  only  one  ship  left, 
Cortez  called  his  men  together  and  told  them  that  their 
vessels  had  been  destroyed  because  there  was  no  further 
use  for  them.  " Brave  men/'  he  said,  do  "not  care  for  a 
means  of  retreat.  I  have,  however,"  he  continued,  "saved 
one  ship  to  carry  the  cowards  back  to  their  homes  and  all 
who  wish  to  go  on  board  will  please  step  forward."  No 
one  stepped  forward,  of  course,  and  Cortez  proceeded 


MONTEZUMA 


236  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

to  overthrow  the  Aztec  kingdom  with  his  handful  of 
men. 

This  was  a  strange  march  to  the  capital  city  of  Mexico. 
The  land  was  rich  in  precious  metals  and  there  was  evi- 
dence on  every  hand  of  a  high  degree  of  civilization  — 
much  higher  than  the  Europeans  had  found  elsewhere  in 
America.  The  Spaniards  saw  works  of  art,  fine  palaces,  and 
beautiful  temples  and  they  rubbed  their  eyes  and  asked 
each  other  if  they  were  dreaming.  It  seemed  very  much 
like  a  fairy  land. 

But  they  also  saw  many  disgusting  spectacles.  They 
saw  evidences  of  cannibalism  and  of  human  sacrifice.  The 
altars  of  the  temples  were  still  wet  with  the  blood  of  the 
victims  and  others  were  waiting  to  be  offered  up.  These 
repulsive  sights  stirred  the  wrath  of  Cortez  and  more  than 
once  he  smashed  the  idols,  cleansed  the  temples  of  their 
reeking  filth,  liberated  the  intended  victims,  and  had  mass 
said  after  the  whole  place  had  been  sprinkled  with  holy 
water. 

Several  things  aided  Cortez  in  his  enterprise.  In  the 
first  place,  there  were  many  Aztecs  who  did  not  like 
Montezuma  —  no  ruler  can  please  every  one  —  and  these 
were  only  too  glad  to  join  the  Spaniards.  In  the  second 
place,  a  beautiful  young  Indian  girl,  named  Marina, 
joined  the  expedition  and  proved  to  be  of  great  assistance 
to  Cortez.  She  was  exceedingly  keen  and  bright.  She 
knew  two  Indian  languages  and  picked  up  the  Spanish 
very  readily.  She  also  aided  Cortez  with  her  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  of  the  people  and  became  so  useful 
to  him  that  Montezuma  and  others  called  him,  "the  Lord 
of  Marina." 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST 


237 


There  was  also  a  tradition  among  the  Aztecs  to  the 
effect  that  one  of  their  gods—  "a  fair-haired  god  of  the 
sky"— had  been  banished  into  the  sea  and  that  he  would 
return  to  them  in  more  prosperous  times.  When  the 
Aztecs  saw  the  strange  Spanish  ships  nearing  then-  shores, 
they  were  sure  that  their  "fair  god"  was  coming  back  to 
them.  Even  after  they  saw  Cortez  and  his  men,  face  to 
face,  they  believed  that  they  were  more  than  human  and 
possessed  of  god-like  power.  The  white  faces,  the  thick 
beards,  the  shining 


c    E    A    N 


THE  SCENE  OF  THE  CONQUEST  BY  CORTEZ 


arms,  the  roaring 
cannon,  and  the 
neighing  steeds  all 
tended  to  increase 
the  awe  of  the  na- 
tives and  to  make 
them  shrink  from 
an  attack.  Why 
fight  against  "children  of  the  sun"  who  can  read  your 
very  thoughts  and  whose  bodies  your  weapons  cannot 
harm?  Cortez  knew  exactly  how  the  natives  felt  and  was 
shrewd  enough  to  make  use  of  this  knowledge. 

Cortez  Reaches  the  City  of  Mexico.  Finally  the  capital 
city  of  Mexico  appeared  in  view.  The  Spaniards  opened 
their  eyes  in  wonder  and  amazement.  Such  a  city  they 
had  not  seen  in  the  New  World.  It  stood  in  the  midst 
of  a  lake  and  was  reached  by  four  causeways  or  roads  of 
solid  stone  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  width.  Near 
the  city  were  drawbridges,  across  which  the  roads  con- 
tinued to  the  temple,  which  stood  hi  the  middle  of  the 
great  square.  The  people  walked  about  on  the  cement 


238  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

walks  or  paddled  their  canoes  from  place  to  place  as  they 
saw  fit.  Immense  houses  of  red  stone  lined  the  walks. 
There  were  flower  gardens  on  the  roofs  and  floating  gar- 
dens on  the  lake  in  which  maize,  beans,  tomatoes,  and  other 
vegetables  grew.  In  the  market-place,  criminals  were 
tried  and  sentenced  and  Aztec  barbers  shaved  the  scanty 
beards  of  the  natives  with  razors  of  obsidian.  The  place 
where  human  beings  were  offered  up  as  sacrifices  to  the 
idols  was  really  too  hideous  and  horrible  for  description. 

The  city  of  Mexico  had  about  sixty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants when  Cortez  and  his  men  came  into  it  as  unwelcome 
guests  early  in  the  November  of  1519.  Montezuma  gave 
the  Spaniards  a  large  house  near  the  temple  which  they 
used  for  their  lodgings.  This  one  house  was  large  enough 
to  accommodate  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards  and 
about  one  thousand  Indians  who  had  joined  the  army  of 
Cortez.  Montezuma  was  made  a  prisoner,  although  he 
was  treated  with  the  greatest  of  kindness  and  considera- 
tion by  the  Spaniards. 

Cortez  was  carrying  things  with  a  high  hand  in  the  city 
of  Mexico  when  the  news  came  to  him  in  the  spring  (1520) 
that  an  army  of  twelve  hundred  soldiers  had  landed  in 
Mexico,  having  been  sent  by  the  governor  of  Cuba  for 
the  purpose  of  arresting  the  conqueror.  With  his  usual 
decision  and  promptness  of  action,  Cortez  marched  with 
three  hundred  men  to  the  coast  and  captured  the  invading 
army,  almost  before  its  commander  knew  what  was  going 
on.  And  then  at  the  head  of  the  combined  Spanish  forces 
he  set  out  again  for  the  city  of  Mexico. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,  he  entered  the  city  for  a 
second  time,  without  opposition.  He  was  surprised,  how- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST 


239 


ever,  wlien  he  found  the  streets  silent  and  deserted,  save 
for  a  few  Azetcs  who  shot  hostile  glances  at  him  from  their 
doorways.  It  was  a  suspicious  reception  and  a  little  later, 


CORTEZ  FIGHTING  THE  AZTECS 

"a  hoarse  sound  arose,  like  the  murmur  of  distant  waters, 
and  soon  the  imprisoned  Spaniards  from  their  tower  saw 
pyramids,  streets,  and  house-tops  black  with  raging  war- 
riors." The  Spaniards  had  been  led  into  a  trap.  The 
slaughter  was  terrible.  The  Spanish  cannon  cut  wide 
swaths  into  the  Aztec  ranks  and  the  canals  of  the  city  were 


240  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

said  to  have  run  red  with  blood.  The  Indians,"  utterly 
reckless  as  to  their  own  safety,  fought  like  hornets  and 
stung  the  Spaniards  with  their  burning  arrows.  Cortez 
ordered  Montezuma  to  go  out  upon  the  roof  of  a  building 
and  try  to  pacify  his  people.  He  did  so,  but  a  shower  of 
stones  and  darts  struck  him  down  and  he  died  a  few 
days  later. 

Cortez  then,  fearing  that  his  army  might  be  shut  up 
within  the  city  and  starved,  made  up  his  mind  to  abandon 
the  city  in  the  night.  Again  the  Spaniards  met  with  no 
resistance  for  a  time.  The  streets  were  deserted  and  all 
seemed  to  be  going  well,  when  suddenly  the  Aztecs  fell 
upon  the  luckless  Spaniards  with  terrible  fury.  Cortez 
lost  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  addition  to  four 
thousand  allies  and  sixty  horses.  His  cannon  were  at 
the  botton  of  the  lake  and  forty  Spaniards  were  waiting 
to  be  offered  up  as  sacrifices  to  the  god  of  war.  "Then 
Cortez  sat  down  upon  the  rock  and  buried  his  face  in  his 
hands  and  wept."  This  awful  time  has  since  been  called 
"  the'  Sad  Night." 

Not  for  a  moment,  however,  did  Cortez  think  of  giving 
up  the  fight.  He  gathered  up  the  remnants  of  his  army, 
sent  for  more  men  and  horses,  rallied  Indians  to  his  ban- 
ner, and  began  his  famous  siege  of  the  city  of  Mexico  on 
the  twenty-eighth  of  April,  1521  —  the  day  of  the  death 
of  Magellan  in  the  Philippines.  The  Spaniards  took  the 
city,  after  one  hundred  and  seven  days  of  the  fiercest 
fighting.  Canals  and  sidewalks  were  clogged  with  dead 
bodies  and  the  whole  city  was  a  scene  of  desolation.  The 
power  of  the  Aztec  confederacy,  however,  was  broken  and 
Mexico  passed  into  the  control  of  Spain.  A  great  change 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST 


241 


NORTH 
CAROLINA 


took  place  in  the  capital  city.  The  temple,  reeking  with 
the  blood  of  its  innocent  victims,  was  demolished  and  a 
Christian  church  was  erected  upon  the  spot.  Pious  monks 
followed  in  the  wake  of  Cortez  and  continued  the  work 
of  casting  down  the  idols,  but  in  a  different  way. 

De  Soto  Discovers  the  Mississippi  River  (1541).  Cortez, 
however,  was  not  the  only  Spaniard  to  explore  and  con- 
quer lands  for  his  country.  Twenty  years  after  Cortez 
left  Cuba  for  his  con- 
quest of  Mexico,  Her- 
nando  de  Soto  began 
his  famous  expedition. 

De  Soto  was  a  bril- 
liant young  Spaniard 
who  started  life  "with 
nothing  but  his  sword 
and  shield,"  .  but 
achieved  both  fame  and 
fortune.  He  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  THE 
Spanish  conquest  of 

Peru  and  returned  to  Spain  with  a  large  fortune.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  king  of  Spain,  being  very  grateful 
to  him  for  his  services,  made  him  governor  of  Cuba  and 
gave  him  a  commission  to  make  a  conquest  of  the  whole 
southern  part  of  what  is  now  the  United  States. 

De  Soto  sailed  from  Havana  in  May,  1539,  with  nine 
ships,  carrying  six  hundred  and  twenty  men,  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three  horses,  and  a  large  drove  of  hogs.  He 
intended  to  colonize  as  well  as  to  conquer.  He  landed  at 
Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  and  began  his  laborious  march  into 


M    E     X     I 

(Outlines  and  names  of  states  did 
not  exist  at  this  period,  but  are     #^$ 
given  for  convenience  of  student    tut  $ 
•in  tracing  De  Sato's  course.)       Q  »•• 


op  DE  SoTQ,s  ExpEDmoN 


242  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

the  interior.  After  floundering  about  in  the  swamps  and 
jungles  of  the  Gulf  region  for  two  years,  he  discovered  the 
Mississippi  River  in  the  spring  of  1541.  One  of  the  mem- 
bers of  De  Soto's  party  described  the  great  river  when 
they  first  saw  it  as  follows:  "The  river  was  almost  half 
a  league  broad.  If  a  man  stood  on  the  other  side  it 
could  not  be  discerned  whether  he  were  a  man  or  no. 
The  river  was  of  great  depth,  and  of  a  strong  current; 
the  water  was  always  muddy;  there  came  down  the  river 
continually  many  trees  and  timber." 

Early  in  June,  De  Soto  crossed  the  river  a  short  dis- 
tance south  of  the  place  where  the  city  of  Memphis  now 
stands.  It  was  no  easy  task  to  cross  the  broad,  swift  stream 
and  it  took  De  Soto  and  his  men  a  whole  month  to  build 
barges  for  that  purpose.  After  crossing  the  river,  they 
again  pushed  westward  through  swamp,  thicket,  and  tangle. 
The  weather  was  so  cold  and  the  snow  .so  deep  that  they 
were  compelled  to  stay  in  rude*  houses  most  of  the  winter. 

De  Soto  came  out  of  his  winter  quarters  much  worn  by 
the  hardships  of  the  expedition  and  soon  was  a  very  sick 
man.  His  end  was  drawing  near  and  he  knew  that  he 
would  never  again  return  to  Cuba.  Brave  unto  the  end, 
however,  he  called  his  men  together,  bade  them  farewell, 
and  named  another  to  succeed  him  in  the  command.  On 
the  following  day,  the  twenty-first  of  May,  1542,  he  died 
of  swamp  fever  and  his  body  was  taken  out  in  a  canoe  and 
sunk  in  the  middle  of  the  great  river  which  he  had  dis- 
covered. His  men  did  not  want  the  Indians  to  know 
that  he  had  died. 

With  the  death  of  De  Soto  the  soul  of  the  expedition 
was  gone.  Numerous  misfortunes  befell  the  luckless  band. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST  243 

The  Indians  were  hostile  and  provisions  ran  short.  All 
of  the  pigs  and  about  twenty-two  of  their  horses  had  been 
killed  for  food.  The  men  had  about  reached  the  giving-up 
point  and  their  great  leader  was  no  longer  present  to  give 
them  new  courage.  They  then  built  rafts  and  rude  boats 
and  floated  down  the  river  in  the  midst  of  danger  from  the 
current  and  also  from  the  Indians  along  the  bank,  as  they 
had  no  fire-arms  of  any  kind.  They  reached  the  sea  in 
sixteen  days  and  then  made  their  way  along  the  Gulf 
coast  and  finally  reached  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Mexico. 
"Thus  ended  the  most  remarkable  exploring  expedition  in 
the  history  of  North  America." 

It  took  De  Soto's  men  four  years,  three  months,  and 
eleven  days  to  make  the  journey  from  Tampa  Bay  to 
Mexico.  Six  hundred  and  twenty  men  started  out  on  the 
expedition  and  only  .three  hundred  and  eleven  returned. 
The  Spaniards  were  looking  for  gold  and  land  and  the 
redmen  did  not  receive  them  very  cordially.  Cruelties 
were  practiced  on  both  sides.  Many  a  poor  Indian  was 
torn  to  pieces  by  the  fierce  dogs  of  the  Spanish  explorers 
and  De  Soto's  men  suffered  grievously  from  the  stealthy 
night  attacks  of  the  savages.  On  one  occasion,  the  Span- 
iards went  into  winter  quarters  in  an  Indian  village  in 
the  northern  part  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Mississippi. 
Without  warning  the  Indians  fell  upon  the  village  at  mid- 
night with  fire  and  slaughter.  Some  of  the  Spaniards 
were  killed  and  most  of  those  who  escaped  lost  their 
clothing  and  provisions  in  the  fire.  Several  hundred  hogs 
and  about  fifty  horses  were  burned.  Before  the  march 
could  be  resumed,  clothing  had  to  be  made  for  the  men 
from  the  skins  of  wild  animals. 


244 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


The  Spaniards  were  not  on  the  march,  of  course,  during 
the  entire  four  years.  They  stopped  now  and  then,  some- 
times for  long  periods,  to  rest  the  men  and  to  fatten  the 
horses.  Sometimes  they  had  plenty  of  good  food  and  again 
then:  rations  were  short.  They  lived  on  wild  turkeys  and 
partridges  which  they  shot  and  the  pigs  which  they  brought 
with  them.  They  also  got  corn  and  beans  from  the  Indians 

and  found  grapes, 
plums,  and  mulber- 
ries growing  wild. 

In  the  course  of 
time,  many  other 
conquests  on  the 
American  continent 
were  made  by  the 
Spaniards.  To-day 
their  descendants  are 
scattered  all  the  way 
from  Texas  to  Cape 
Horn  and  have  done 


CARMEL  MISSION  NEAR  MONTEREY,  CALIFORNIA 

The  Spaniards  established  their  missions 
wherever  they  made  permanent  settlements. 
These  missions  were  the  centers  of  religion  and 
education.  The  buildings,  many  of  which  are 
still  standing,  are  interesting  and  quaint. 


much  to  improve 
the  civilization  of 
this  vast  area. 
The  Spanish  Missions.  The  Spaniards  kept  steadily 
in  view  their  idea  of  converting  the  Indians  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  as  soon  as  the  explorer  had  blazed  the 
way  through  the  forest  with  sword  and  axe,  the  priest 
and  monk  followed  with  the  crucifix.  The  fort  was 
scarcely  finished  before  the  chapel  and  school  appeared  at 
its  side.  In  Mexico  and  California,  religion  and  educa- 
tion followed  conquest.  The  priests  and  monks  were  tire- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  CONQUEST  245 

less  in  preaching,  baptizing,  and  teaching  the  Indians  the 
ways  of  civilization.  In  a  short  time,  the  temples  of  the 
idols,  their  sides  reeking  with  the  blood  of  innocent 
victims,  began  to  give  way  to  Christian  chapels  with  their 
lessons  of  peace  and  love.  The  monks  were  so  much  in 
earnest  about  their  work  that  sometimes  when  they  were 
not  able  to  induce  the  Indians  to  attend  their  schools, 
they  compelled  them  to  do  so  by  kidnapping.  This  was 
probably  the  beginning  of  compulsory  education  in 
America. 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Notice  that  Spain  made  it  possible  for  Columbus  to  make  his  voyages. 
Spain  also  took  the  lead  in  the  exploration  and  settlement  of  the  new  world. 

2.  The  remains  of  many  of  the  old  Spanish  Missions  are  still  to  be  seen 
hi  Southwestern  United  States  and  hi  Mexico. 

3.  Why  were  the  Spaniards  so  eager  to  conquer  Mexico? 

4.  It  was  a  Spanish  priest,  Las  Casas,  who  persuaded  Charles  V  hi  1542 
to  put  an  end  to  Indian  slavery.    In  order  to  save  the  Indians  he  advised 
the  planters  to   obtain  negroes.     This  he   afterward  regretted.    Through 
his    efforts,    however,    the    Indians    on    the   mainland   were    saved   from 
extermination. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Aztec.     az'tSk  Marina.     ma-re'n# 

Hernando   Cortez.     Har-nan'do  Montezuma.     m6n'  te-zoo'md 

k6r't6z  obsidian.     Sb-sId'I-an 

Hernando  de  Soto.     de  so'to  San  Juan,     san  hwan 
Las  Casas.    las  ka'sas 


246  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  XXII 
ENGLAND    AS    A    RIVAL    OF    SPAIN 

"There  has  been  no   greater  period  in  English  history  than  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth."  —  CHEYNEY. 

If  we  had  time,  we  might  tell  other  stories  of  Spanish 
exploration  and  conquest  just  as  interesting  and  heroic 
as  those  which  have  been  told.  We  might  tell  of  the 
exploits  of  Ponce  de  Leon,  who  explored  what  is  now 
Florida  (1513),  searching  for  a  suitable  site  for  a  colony 
and  also  for  the  mythical  " Fountain  of  Youth"  whose 
waters,  it  was  said,  would  prevent  one  from  growing  old. 

We  might  also  follow  Coronado  in  his  search  for  the 
famous  "  Seven  Cities."  He  had  been  told  that  somewhere 
in  the  interior  of  the  continent  there  were  seven  large  and 
wealthy  cities,  whose  inhabitants  lived  in  palatial  stone 
houses  and  used  kitchen  utensils  made  of  gold  and  silver. 
These  tales  lured  Coronado  and  his  men  into  the  dark 
interior.  For  three  years  they  tramped  about  in  the  south- 
western wilderness.  Some  of  them  went  into  what  is 
now  Kansas  and  some  of  them  gazed  with  awe  upon  the 
Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado.  They  found  the  "  Seven 
Cities,"  but  they  did  not  find  marble  palaces  adorned 
with  gold  and  silver  —  nothing  but  rude  Indian  houses. 
They  finally  saw  that  they  were  the  victims  of  idle  tales. 

Now  Balboa,  Cortez,  De  Soto,  Ponce  de  Leon,  and 
Coronado  were  all  Spaniards.  The  Spaniards  had  ex- 
plored very  extensively  in  North,  South,  and  Central 
America.  In  fact,  practically  all  of  the  exploring  that  had 


ENGLAND  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


247 


been  done  in  the  New  World,  except  what  the  French  had 
done  in  the  St.  Lawrence  region,  was  carried  on  by  the 
Spaniards.  The  New  World  had  been  discovered  by  the 
Spaniards  and  the  Pope's  Line  (see  map,  page  221)  had 
given  them  all  of  the  American  continents  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Brazil.  It  would  seem  from  this  that  Spain  was 


CORONADO   ON  THE   MARCH 

in  a  fair  way  to  get  possession  of  nearly  all  of  the  New 
World.  She  did  not  do  so,  however,  and  we  must  now 
seek  the  reasons  why. 

In  the  first  place  the  Pope's  Line  was  no  longer  respected 
as  it  once  was.  Conditions  had  changed.  The  Pope  was 
no  longer  the  head  of  all  the  Christians  in  Europe.  Many 
people  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  Roman  Church. 
They  protested  against  certain  practices  of  the  church  and 
were  called  Protestants.  The  greatest  leader  of  the  Prot- 


248  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

estants  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
was  Martin  Luther  of  Germany.  Twenty-four  years 
after  the  Pope's  Line  was  drawn  (1517),  Luther  de- 
clared that  certain  practices  of  the  Roman  Church  were 
not  hi  harmony  with  the  true  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
Church.  This  declaration  was  made  in  writing  and  was 
posted  on  the  door  of  a  church  in  Germany.  The  posting 
of  this  document  marks  the  beginning  of  that  movement 
known  in  history  as  the  Protestant  Reformation.  The 
Protestants  made  considerable  headway  in  Europe,  espe- 
cially in  the  northern  part,  and,  naturally  enough,  those 
peoples  who  had  broken  away  from  the  Roman  Church 
no  longer  felt  bound  by  the  Pope's  Line.  England,  for 
example,  had  become  largely  Protestant  by  the  time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  (1558-1603)  and  felt  quite  independent 
of  the  Pope. 

In  the  second  place  we  should  remember  that  the  na- 
tions of  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century  were  not  very 
particular  about  the  right  and  wrong  of  things.  If  they 
really  wanted  to  have  a  certain  piece  of  territory,  they 
could  easily  find  an  excuse  for  taking  it  —  provided 
they  were  strong  enough.  It  was  a  case  of  "  might 
makes  right"  and  the  weaker  nations  suffered. 

A  hundred  years  had  passed  since  the  discovery  of 
America  before  the  nations  of  Europe  really  took  up  the 
colonization  of  America  in  earnest.  During  that  hundred 
years,  important  changes  had  taken  place.  France  and 
England  had  increased  very  greatly  in  strength  but  Spain 
had  not.  In  some  respects,  she  had  become  weaker.  The 
Spaniards  had  done  more  than  any  other  people  in  the 
discovery  and  exploration  of  the  New  World,,  and  had 


ENGLAND  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN  249 

strong  claims  to  large  parts  of  North,  South,  and  Central 
America.  But  when  the  work  of  colonization  really  began 
in  earnest,  England,  France,  and  Holland  were  strong 
enough  to  ignore  these  claims  and  to  colonize  some  of  the 
choicest  parts  of  America.  At  the  start,  Spain  had  a 
great  advantage  over  her  rivals,  but  when  the  scramble  for 
territory  came,  she  was  no  match  for  them  in  strength. 
The  Spaniard  blazed  the  trail  and  Europeans  of  other 
nations  followed  in  his  wake. 

England  in  the  Days  of  Elizabeth.  One  of  the  strongest 
and  most  successful  of  these  rivals  was  England.  The 
English  were  a  hardy,  vigorous,  and  enterprising  race  of 
men  and  in  the  course  of  time  made  their  country  one 
of  the  strongest  on  the  globe.  Henry  VII  was  the  king  of 
England  when  Columbus  discovered  the  New  World.  He 
was  the  same  king  that  sent  John  Cabot  on  his  famous 
expedition  to  the  coast  of  North  America.  It  was  in 
Henry's  time,  also,  that  the  Revival  of  Learning  reached 
England.  This  made  a  great  change.  England  became 
more  wide-awake  and  enterprising  than  she  had  ever  been 
before,  and  by  the  time  of  Elizabeth  (the  granddaughter 
of  Henry)  she  was  sending  her  bold  sea-rovers  to  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  globe. 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  one  of  the  ablest  monarchs  that 
ever  occupied  the  English  throne  and  came  into  power 
just  at  the  time  when  the  colonization  of  the  New  World 
was  being  talked  of  everywhere.  And  now  wide-awake 
England,  under  her  equally  wide-awake  queen,  was  ready 
to  contest  the  possession  of  America  with  Spain  and  the 
other  nations.  She  enjoyed  such  contests  and  was  eager 
for  the  fray. 


250  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  a  vigorous  and  intelligent  young 
woman  of  twenty-five  when  she  came  to  the  throne  of 
England.  She  was  well  educated  and  could  speak  and 
write  Latin,  French,  and  Italian.  She  had  studied  Greek 
and  spoke  and  wrote  strong,  vigorous  English.  She  was 

bold  and  self-reliant  and  re- 
markably well  posted  upon 
problems  of  government. 

On  the  other  hand,  she  was 
vain  and  conceited  and  not 
particularly  refined.  She  was 
very  fond  of  fine  clothes  and 
loved  to  display  them  in  public. 
But  Elizabeth  loved  England 
and  governed  in  the  interest 
of  the  whole  people  and  not 
of  any  one  class.  She  was 
of  queenly  bearing,  had  an 

intelligent    but    not    beautiful 
QUEEN  ELIZABETH  faC6j  ft  lofty  gpir^  and  gtrong 

character.  She  was  also  "a  bold  horsewoman,  a  good 
shot,  a  graceful  dancer,  a  skilled  musician,  and  an  accom- 
plished scholar." 

She  liked  to  have  her  own  way  and  sometimes  allowed 
her  temper  to  flame  out  in  bursts  of  anger.  On  one 
occasion,  she  soundly  boxed  the  ears  of  her  adviser  when 
he  did  something  to  displease  her.  But,  on  the  whole, 
Elizabeth  was  a  good  and  strong  ruler  and  her  reign  was 
the  greatest  period  in  English  history  up  to  that  time. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  One  of  the  men  who  helped  to 
make  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  illustrious  was  Sir  Walter 


ENGLAND  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


251 


Raleigh.  England  now  has  a  colonial  empire  which  girdles 
the  globe.  The  sun  never  sets  on  English  colonies.  The 
beginning  of  this  great  empire  she  owes  to  Raleigh. 
Raleigh  was  a  famous  sea-rover,  soldier,  colonizer,  and 
adventurer.  He  was  born  in  England  near  the  sea  and 


THE  BOY  RALEIGH  LISTENING  TO  TALES  OF  ADVENTURE 

spent  a  large  part  of  his  boyhood  days  in  listening  to  the 
sailors  recounting  their  voyages  of  adventure.  He  also 
read  all  of  the  books  which  he  could  get  relating  to  great 
sea  voyages.  He  was  a  student  at  Oxford  University  and 
later  aided  the  Dutch  in  their  fight  for  liberty  against 
Spain.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  at  the  queen's 
court  and  became  a  great  favorite  with  her.  He  was  tall 


252  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

and  striking  in  appearance,  with  wavy  hair  and  bright 
blue  eyes.  His  wit  was  exceedingly  nimble,  his  manner 
gracious  and  attractive.  In  a  word,  he  was  a  natural 
born  gentleman  as  brave  as  he  was  generous. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  him  which  may  or  may  not  be 
true,  but  it  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the 
man.  The  queen  was  walking  one  day  with  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  court,  when,  it  is  said,  she  came  to  a  mud 
puddle.  She  did  not  wish,  of  course,  to  put  her  daintily 
slippered  feet  into  the  mire,  and  so  she  hesitated  for  a 
moment.  Quick  as  a  flash,  Raleigh,  who  saw  the  queen's 
hesitation,  snatched  a  beautiful  plush  coat  from  his  shoul- 
ders and  spread  it  out  for  the  foot  of  the  queen  to  tread 
upon.  Elizabeth  walked  across  on  the  luxurious  carpet 
which  Raleigh  had  provided  for  her  and  later  gave  him 
rich  rewards  in  offices  and  estates. 

There  is  another  story  told  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  which 
is  of  an  entirely  different  character.  It  is  said  that  he 
was  the  first  man  in  England  to  smoke  tobacco  and  that, 
as  he  was  enjoying  a  quiet  smoke  one  day,  one  of  his  ser- 
vants entered  the  room  carrying  a  pot  of  ale.  The  servant 
was  horrified  at  seeing  the  smoke  coming  out  of  the  mouth 
of  his  master  and,  thinking  that  he  must  be  burning  on  the 
inside,  he  instantly  dashed  the  contents  of  the  pot  upon 
his  head,  hoping  to  put  out  the  fire. 

Raleigh,  however,  was  too  much  of  a  man  to  be  content 
with  fine  clothes,  polite  manners,  and  the  favor  of  the 
queen.  He  wanted  to  do  something  and  he  had  visions 
of  a  great  English  empire  beyond  the  seas.  We  shall  see 
later  how  he  put  his  ideas  into  practice  and  became  a 
pioneer  in  the  English  colonization  of  North  America. 


ENGLAND  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN  253 

The  English  Seamen  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Raleigh 
was  only  one  of  a  group  of  brilliant  English  seamen  who 
plowed  the  ocean  in  the  sixteenth  century.  They  were 
adventurers  and  explorers  and,  if  the  truth  must  be  told, 
pirates.  They  sailed  out  to  challenge  the  supremacy  of 
Spain  on  the  ocean  and  liked  nothing  better  than  to  chase, 
overhaul,  and  plunder  a  rich  Spanish  treasure  ship.  Of 
course,  this  was  piracy,  as  the  two  nations  were  not  at 
war.  But  the  English  of  the  sixteenth  century  did  not 
frown  very  seriously  upon  the  practice. 

In  addition  to  love  of  the  chase  and  gold,  there  was 
another  reason,  as  we  have  already  seen,  why  the  English 
sea-rovers  loved  to  smite  the  Spaniards.  The  English 
were  Protestants  and  the  Spaniards  Roman  Catholics  and 
there  was  a  bitter  religious  hatred  between  the  two.  The 
Protestants  believed  that  in  fighting  the  Spaniards  they 
were  striking  down  the  enemies  of  God;  the  Spaniards, 
on  the  other  hand,  looked  upon  the  Protestants  in  England 
very  much  as  they  might  look  upon  the  infidel  Turk. 
And  so  whenever  English  and  Spanish  crews  met  upon  the 
high  seas,  there  was  war  to  the  knife  and  no  quarter 
given  or  asked. 

English  seamen  also  sold  African  slaves  to  Spanish 
colonists  against  the  wishes  of  Spain.  In  1562,  John 
Hawkins,  of  Plymouth,  England,  captured  three  hundred 
negroes  on  the  coast  of  Africa  and  sold  them  to  the 
Spaniards  at  Santo  Domingo.  The  king  of  Spain  pro- 
tested against  this,  but  to  no  avail.  A  short  tune  later, 
Hawkins  again  appeared  in  the  West  Indies  with  a  dusky 
cargo  and  disposed  of  his  slaves  in  spite  of  the  opposition 
of  the  governors. 


254 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMER  CAN  HISTORY 


A  few  years  later  (1572)  Francis  Drake,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  the  sea-rovers  and  a  relative  of  Hawkins,  started 
out  deliberately  to  plunder  the  Spaniards.  He  appeared 
suddenly  in  the  harbors  of  the  West  Indies,  captured  and 
plundered  vessels  lying  at  anchor  in  the  ports,  set  fire  to 
the  towns,  and  put  to  the  sword  all  those  who  dared  to 
resist  him.  He  met  a  train  of  mules  bringing  rich  loads 

of    gold    and    silver    from  the 

mines  of  Peru  and  promptly 
relieved  them  of  their  treas- 
ures. On  his  way  back  to 
England,  he  pounced  upon  and 
looted  a  Spanish  treasure  ship. 
All  of  this  was  piracy  and 
highway  robbery,  of  course, 
but  the  English  people,  includ- 
ing the  queen,  applauded  his 
exploits  and  laughed  at  the 
protests  of  Spain.  Evidently 
the  time  was  coming  when  the 
two  great  nations  "would  have 
it  out." 

Drake  Sails  Around  the  World  (1577-1580).  Drake, 
however,  had  an  ambition  to  do  greater  things  than  plun- 
der Spanish  ships.  In  1577,  he  sailed  west  with  five  ships 
and  about  one  hundred  fifty  men.  Not  one  of  the  com- 
pany, with  the  exception  of  Drake  himself,  knew  where 
the  expedition  was  going.  They  went  to  the  West  Indies 
and  then  sailed  down  the  coast  of  South  America  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan.  After  passing  through  these  straits 
in  the  wake  of  the  great  Magellan,  Drake  met  frightful 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE 


ENGLAND  AS  A   RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


255 


storms  on  the  Pacific.  One  of  his  vessels  turned  back  and 
three  others  were  lost.  The  remaining  men  also  wanted  to 
beat  a  retreat,  but  Drake  would  not  listen  to  them.  He 
landed  on  a  barren  shore  long  enough  to  hang  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  mutiny  and  then  sailed  up  the  west  coast 
of  South  America.  With  one  small  vessel,  the  Pelican, 
and  less  than  one  hundred  men,  he  passed  along  the  coast 
of  Chili  and  Peru,  plundering  as  he  went.  He  would  dart 


Drake's  voyage 


ofMagella 


DRAKE'S  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  GLOBE 

suddenly  into  a  port,  plunder  the  ships  lying  at  anchor, 
go  on  shore  and  seize  the  stores  of  gold,  silver,  and 
precious  stones,  and  then  quickly  sail  away,  leaving  his 
victims  dumbfounded  and  with  their  pockets  turned 
inside  out.  Finally,  he  came  opposite  the  present  site  of 
San  Francisco,  seeking  now  for  a  passage  through  the  con- 
tinent by  which  he  might  return  to  England.  Finding 
none,  he  sailed  westward  across  the  Pacific,  through  the 
East  Indies,  and  back  to  England  by  way  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope. 


256  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

This  was  the  second  voyage  around  the  globe.  The 
Pelican  had  followed  in  the  wake  of  Magellan's  ship,  the. 
Victoria.  She  "was  loaded  with  bars  of  gold,  boxes  of 
precious  stones,  and  tons  of  silver,  amounting  in  value  to 
some  four  million  dollars."  This  rich  booty  was  divided 
among  the  promoters  of  the  expedition  and  the  queen  and 
Drake  himself  had  large  shares  in  the  Spanish  wealth. 

It  might  be  interesting  for  a  moment  to  take  a  glance 
at  the  boyhood  of  Sir  Francis  Drake.  The  hulk  of  an  old 
ship,  moored  off  an  English  dockyard,  was  the  boyhood 
home  of  Sir  Francis.  Here  he  heard  the  sailors  sing  their 
songs  and  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  tales  of  adven- 
ture on  the  sea.  He  grew  up  to  be  a  sturdy  and  self- 
reliant  lad  and  found  employment  on  a  ship  sailing  from 
France  to  Holland.  While  in  Holland  he  saw  the  cruel 
way  in  which  the  king  of  Spain  oppressed  his  Dutch  sub- 
jects and  came  to  hate  him  very  cordially  for  it.  At  a 
later  time,  Drake  and  Hawkins,  his  relative,  were  com- 
pelled to  seek  the  shelter  of  a  Spanish  port  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Here  the  Spaniards  attacked  them  and  destroyed 
one  half  of  their  ships,  although  they  had  promised  not 
to  harm  them.  From  that  tune  on,  Hawkins  and  Drake 
took  great  delight  in  goading  the  Spaniards  wherever  they 
found  them.  We  shall  meet  Sir  Francis  Drake  later  when 
he  sets  out  to  "  singe  the  beard  of  the  King  of  Spain." 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Compare  Magellan  and  Drake  as  to  route,  purpose,  and  results  of 
expeditions. 

2.  Read  in  any  good  history  of  England  an  account  of  Elizabeth's  reign. 
Was  she  a  "good  and  strong  ruler"?    Would  she  be  so  considered  to- 
day? 


FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN         257 

3.  Is  there  any  geographical  exploration  going  on  at  the  present  time? 
See,  if  you  can,  a  copy  of  the  "National  Geographic  Magazine."     It  is  in 
all  libraries. 

4.  Do  you  think  Spain  had  just  cause  for  complaint  against  Drake  and 
Hawkins? 

6.  Why  did  Spain  seem  to  be  the  rightful  possessor  of  most  of  the 
New  World? 

6.  Why  was  Raleigh  the  favorite  with  Queen  Elizabeth?  What  is  the 
most  important  work  that  he  did? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Chili,     chin  Ponce  de  Leon,     pon'tha  da  la-on' 

Coronado.    ko'ro-na'do  Raleigh.    ro'U 

Peru,     pe-roo' 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
FRANCE   AS    A   RIVAL    OF    SPAIN 

Poor  Spain  was  beset  by  enemies  on  every  side.  Not 
only  England,  but  France  as  well,  wished  to  share  in  the 
profits  and  glories  of  the  New  World.  Spain  was  like  a 
dog  with  a  juicy  bone.  She  soon  found  other  nations 
snarling  about  her  and  ready  to  grab  her  prize. 

Wars  between  France  and  Spain  in  Europe.  At  the 
time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  Charles  I  was  king  of 
Spain  and  Francis  I  king  of  France.  These  two  mon- 
archs  looked  at  each  other  with  jealous  and  hostile 
eyes  and  their  subjects  were  almost  equally  unfriendly. 
Both  Charles  and  Francis  wished  to  be  elected  Emperor 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Charles  was  chosen  and 
Francis,  greatly  disappointed,  nursed  his  grievance.  He 
made  an  attack  upon  Charles  whenever  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity and  for  twenty-three  years  kept  up  a  running  fight 
against  the  emperor.  A  large  part  of  the  fighting  was 


258  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

done  in  Italy  and  it  was  in  these  wars  that  Chevalier 
Bayard  became  known  to  the  whole  civilized  world. 

Chevalier  Bayard.  Bayard  was  a  member  of  a  noble 
French  family  who  entered  the  service  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  as  a  page.  While  in  the  service  of  the  duke,  he 
obtained  an  excellent  training  in  the  duties  of  the  soldier 
and  also  became  skillful  in  the  use  of  weapons.  He  was 
so  skillful  in  war,  and  so  brave  in  personal  combat  that 
he  became  known  as  the  "  Invincible."  In  one  great 
battle,  in  which  the  king  had  command  in  person,  Bayard 
fought  bravely  and  contributed  largely  to  the  victory 
which  saved  France.  After  the  close  of  the  contest,  the 
king  requested  that  he  himself  be  made  a  knight  and 
that  the  knighthood  be  conferred  upon  him  by  the  brave 
Chevalier.  " Bayard,  my  friend,"  said  the  king,  "I  wish 
to-day  to  be  made  knight  by  your  hands,  because  you 
have  fought  on  foot  and  on  horseback  in  many  battles 
and  are  reputed  to  be,  above  all  others,  the  most  worthy." 
Bayard  hesitated  to  comply  with  this  request  because  he 
did  not  feel  himself  worthy  to  bestow  knighthood  upon 
his  king;  and  so  he  replied:  "Sire,  he  who  is  king  of  so 
noble  a  realm  is  a  knight  above  all  other  knights."  To 
this  the  king  simply  answered,  "Come,  Bayard;  make 
haste."  Whereupon  Bayard  drew  his  sword,  conferred 
the  order  of  knighthood  upon  Francis  and  then  said, 
"Assuredly  you  are  the  greatest  prince  who  ever  was  made 
knight.  God  grant  that  in  the  war  you  shall  never  take 
flight."  He  then  flourished  his  sword  in  the  air  and  said 
as  he  put  it  into  the  scabbard  that  he  would  always 
cherish  it  as  a  "sacred  relic,  honored  above  all  others," 
because  it  had  been  used  in  knighting  his  king. 


FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


259 


While  fighting  for  his  king  and  country  in  northern 
Italy  (1524),  he  was  mortally  wounded  while  conducting 
an  almost  hopeless  retreat.  His  men  by  whom  he  was  so 
greatly  beloved  were  about  to  carry  him  from  the  field, 


DEATH  OF  BAYARD 

when  he  said,  "No,  let  me  die  in  peace.  It  is  all  over  with 
me."  He  died  there  propped  up  against  a  tree  and  amid 
the  whistling  of  the  bullets. 

"It  was  said  of  Bayard  by  military  men  of  his  time, 
that  he  assaulted  like  a  grayhound,  defended  himself  like 


260  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

a  lion,  and  retreated  like  a  wolf,  which  always  retires  from 
its  pursuers  with  its  face  towards  them.  ...  In  an 
age  which  combined  strangely  coarseness  with  refinement, 
Chevalier  Bayard  was  admitted  by  friend  and  foe,  by 
priest  and  soldier,  to  be  a  perfect  model .  of  Christian 
knighthood."  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  then  that  Bayard 
has  ever  since  been  called  the  "  knight  without  fear  and 
without  reproach?" 

The  French  and  Spaniards  Cross  Swords  in  America. 
The  French  and  Spaniards,  however,  did  not  do  all  of 
their  fighting  in  Italy.  They  also  crossed  swords  in  the 
forests  of  North  America.  Francis  knew  very  well  that 
North  America  had  been  granted  to  Spain  by  the  Pope's 
Line  of  1493,  but  he  said  that  he  saw  no  good  reason  why 
the  Spaniards  should  own  the  whole  earth.  So  in  1524, 
the  very  year  of  Bayard's  death,  he  sent  out  John  Ver- 
razzano,  an  Italian  navigator  of  whom  we  have  heard,  in 
an  attempt  to  find  an  all-water  route  to  the  East.  He 
failed  in  this,  but  he  sailed  along  the  Atlantic  shore 
of  North  America  from  Newfoundland  to  the  Cape  Fear 
River. 

Cartier  (1534).  Ten  years  later,  Cartier,  a  Frenchman, 
came,  as  we  have  already  seen,  on  a  similar  errand.  He, 
too,  was  searching  for  a  route  to  the  Indies.  Entering  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  he  sailed  up  that  stream 
"until,"  as  he  said,  "land  could  be  seen  on  either  side." 
He  soon  returned  to  France,  but  came  back  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  (1535)  and  sailed  up  the  river  to  the  present 
site  of  Montreal. 

Coligny  and  the  Huguenots  (1562).  The  first  really 
serious  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French  to  found  a 


FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


261 


colony  in  the  New  World  was  made  by  Admiral  Coligny. 
Coligny  was  the  able  leader  of  a  band  of  French  Prot- 
estants, called  Huguenots.  These  Huguenots  were  being 
persecuted  in  their  native  land  on  account  of  their  re- 
ligion and  Coligny  determined  to  find  a  haven  of  rest  for 
them  in  America.  So,  in  1562,  he  sent  out  a  company 
of  his  people  under  the  command  of  Jean  Ribaut.  These 
colonists'  avoided  the  frozen 
north,  where  Cartier  and  his 
men  had  had  such  unpleas- 
ant experiences,  and  turned 
their  prows  towards  the  milder 
south.  On  May  Day,  Ribaut 
entered  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John's  River  in  Florida  and 
named  it  "the  River  of  May." 
"Never  had  they  known,"  says 
Francis  Parkman,  "a  fairer 
May  Day.  .  .  .  The  tranquil 
air,  the  warm  sun,  woods  fresh 
with  young  verdure,  meadows 
bright  with  flowers;  the  palm,  the  cypress,  the  pine,  the 
magnolia;  the  grazing  deer;  herons,  curlews,  bitterns, 
wood-cock,  and  unknown  water-fowl,  that  waded  in  the 
ripple  of  the  beach;  cedars  bearded  from  crown  to  root 
with  long,  gray  moss;  huge  oaks  smothering  in  the  folds 
of  enormous  grapevines;  such  were  the  objects  that  greeted 
them  in  their  roamings,  till  then*  new-discovered  land  seemed 
the  '  fairest,  fruitfulest  and  pleasantest  of  all  the  world.' ' 

Ribaut  established  a  colony  on  Port  Royal  Island  and 
named  the  whole  country  "Carolina,"  in  honor  of  Charles, 


ADMIRAL  COLIGNY 


262  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

the  King  of  France.  The  colony  was  a  failure  and  was 
abandoned  within  a  year.  The  handful  of  people  remain- 
ing alive  at  the  end  of  that  time  were  only  too  glad  to  get 
back  to  France. 

Fort  Caroline  in  Florida.  Not  discouraged  by  this 
failure,  the  French  made  another  attempt  two  years 
later  (1564).  At  first  they  tried  to  find  some  trace  of 
Ribaut's  colony  but  were  unable  to  do  so,  as  the-  remnant 
of  it  had  sailed  for  home  a  short  tune  before  in  a  rude 
vessel  built  by  their  own  hands.  Leaving  the  ill-fated 
site  of  the  Port  Royal  colony,  they  pushed  on  to  the  River 
of  May  in  Florida.  On  the  bank  of  that  stream,  they 
built  a  rude  fort  which  they  named  Caroline  in  honor  of 
King  Charles.  This  colony  was  another  weakling.  The 
men  were  not  made  of  the  proper  stuff.  They  were  shift- 
less and  dissolute  and  could  not  bear  up  against  disease, 
hunger,  and  Indian  attacks. 

The  Destruction  of  Fort  Caroline.  In  the  meantime, 
the  Spaniards,  who  felt  that  they  owned  this  whole  country, 
were  looking  upon  the  struggling  French  colony  with  hos- 
tile eyes.  They  regarded  the  French  as  intruders  in  their 
domain  and  resolved  to  wipe  them  out.  The  Spaniards, 
who  were  Roman  Catholics,  were  especially  bitter  towards 
the  Huguenots,  who  were  Protestants. 

In  1565,  a  Spaniard  named  Menendez  came  to  America 
and  founded  St.  Augustine  in  Florida  and  announced  his 
intention  to  "  gibbet  and  behead  all  the  Protestants  in 
these  regions. "  He  set  about  his  bloody  work  at  once 
and  completely  exterminated  the  French  colony  on  the 
River  of  May.  He  attacked  the  fort  just  before  day- 
break in  the  midst  of  a  driving  rain  while  the  French  were 


FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN 


263 


in  a  sound  sleep.  It  was  soon  over.  One  hundred  and 
thirty  dead  men  lay  scattered  about  the  scene  of  the  bloody 
combat.  By  order  of  Menendez  the  women  were  spared. 
So  also  were  the  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age. 
About  fifty  other  persons  also  escaped  with  their  lives  by 
swimming  across  the  river  or  by  embarking  in  small  boats. 

It  is  interesting  to  note 
something  more  of  this  Spanish 
soldier.  Menendez  was  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  famous 
officers  in  the  Spanish  navy. 
He  had  been  a  wild  and  un- 
governable youth.  He  ran 
away  from  home  at  the  age 
of  eight,  but  was  caught  and 
brought  back.  He  ran  away 
again  and  this  time  got  on 
board  a  fleet  which  was  set- 
ting out  against  the  Barbary 
Corsairs.  Menendez  delighted 
in  battle  and  slaughter  and 
while  fighting  against  the  Barbary  States,  it  is  quite 
probable  that  his  " appetite  for  blood  and  blows"  was 
fully  satisfied. 

Menendez  came  to  Florida  (which  had  much  larger 
dimensions  than  the  present  State)  with  twenty-six  hun- 
dred and  forty-six  persons  in  thirty-four  ships.  His  flag- 
ship was  described  as  "one  of  the  finest  ships  afloat." 
Menendez  held  a  parley  with  the  French  on  their  boats  off 
the  mouth  of  the  River  of  May.  He  asked  them  who 
they  were.  They  replied  that  they  were  Frenchmen. 


PEDRO  MENENDEZ 


264  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

"Are  you  Catholics  or  Lutherans?"  he  then  asked.  " Lu- 
therans of  the  new  religion,"  cried  many  voices.  "But," 
said  the  French,  "who  are  you  and  where  do  you  come 
from?"  The  answer  came:  "I  am  Pedro  Menendez, 
general  of  the  fleet  of  the  King  of  Spain,  Don  Philip  the 
Second,  who  have  come  to  this  country  to  hang  and  be- 
head all  Lutherans  whom  I  shall  find  by  land  or  sea.  .  .  . 
I  have  power  to  pardon  none.  ...  At1  daybreak,  I  shall 
board  your  ships."  To  which  the  French  shouted  back 
in  derision:  "If  you  are  a  brave  man,  don't  wait  till 
day.  Come  on  now  and  see  what  you  will  get." 

The  Attack.  When  the  Spaniards  approached  the  set- 
tlement there  was  not  a  sentinel  on  the  ramparts.  A 
lone  trumpeter,  peering  through  the  sheets  of  rain,  saw 
the  advancing  hosts  and  blew  a  loud  blast.  The  half- 
naked  soldiers  rushed  from  their  quarters,  only  to  be  struck 
down  by  the  wolfish  Spaniards.  One  hundred  and  forty-two 
lay  dead  in  and  around  the  fort.  The  prisoners  Menendez 
hanged  on  trees  and  placed  over  them  this  inscription,  "I 
do  this,  not  as  to  Frenchmen  but  as  to  Lutherans." 
This  was  the  sad  ending  of  Fort  Caroline.  "Thus  did 
France  and  Spain  dispute  the  possession  of  North  America 
long  before  England  became  a  party  to  the  strife." 

The  Avenger,  Dominic  de  Gourgues.  Presently  there 
came  a  man  to  take  vengeance  upon  the  Spaniards  for 
the  blood  of  the  French.  Dominic  de  Gourgues  was  a 
French  soldier  of  high  birth  and  great  renown.  "He  hated 
the  Spaniards  with  a  mortal  hate,"  and  when  he  heard  of 
the  bloody  fate  of  his  countrymen  in  Florida,  it  is  said 
that  "his  hot  blood  boiled  with  fury."  He  gathered  to- 
gether a  small  party  of  men  and  on  August  22,  1567, 


FRANCE  AS  A  RIVAL  OF  SPAIN  265 

sailed  away  to  strike  the  Spaniard  in  the  New  World. 
"The  moon  rode  high  above  the  lonely  sea,  and,  silvered 
in  its  light,  the  ships  of  the  avenger  held  their  course.  .  .  . 
They  glided  slowly  by  the  somber  shores  in  the  shimmering 
moonlight,  to  the  sound  of  the  murmuring  surf  and  the 
moaning  pine  trees."  At  noonday  they  approached  the 
Spanish  fort  and  made  ready  to  strike  the  enemy.  The 
Spaniards  had  just  finished  their  dinner  and,  according  to 
an  old  writer,  "were  still  picking  their  teeth"  when  the 
war  cry  rang  out.  The  French  attacked  the  fort  with 
terrible  fury,  and  skulking  Indians  cut  off  the  fugitives  in 
their  attempt  to  escape.  One  account  says  that  not  a 
single  Spaniard  got  away  with  his  life;  another,  that  a 
few  of  them  escaped  to  the  hills;  "and  thus,"  says  Francis 
Parkman,  "did  the  Spaniards  make  bloody  atonement  for 
the  butchery  of  Fort  Caroline." 

Near  the  foot  of  the  fort,  the  trees  were  pointed  out 
to  De  Gourgues  upon  which  Menendez  had  hanged  his  pris- 
oners. To  these  trees  De  Gourgues  ordered  the  Spanish 
captives  to  be  led.  After  suspending  them  from  the  same 
limbs  upon  which  the  French  captives  had  been  hung 
three  years  before,  he  placed  over  them  a  pine  board, 
bearing  this  inscription  burned  into  it  with  a  red-hot 
iron:  "Not  as  to  Spaniards,  but  as  to  Traitors,  Robbers, 
and  Murderers." 

QUESTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Of  the  three  rivals  —  Spain,  England,  and  France  —  which  seems  to 
you  to  have  had  the  best  right  to  the  "New  World"? 

2.  Take  the  side  of  any  one  of  these  nations  and  present  its  claims  to 
your  class. 

3.  You  should  realize  how  Spain  was  handicapped  in  this  struggle  by 
having  two  such  powerful  enemies  as  England  and  France. 


266  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

4.  Tell  what  you  know  about  the  following:  Chevalier  Bayard,  Cartier, 
Coligny,  Fort  Caroline,  Menendez,  Jean  Ribaut,  Huguenots,  De  Gourgues. 

6.  Rule  off  three  columns  on  a  piece  of  paper.  Mark  the  heads  of  these 
columns  respectively,  Spanish,  French,  English.  Then  under  each  head 
write  down  as  many  places  as  you  can  think  of  that  were  discovered  in  the 
New  World  by  these  peoples.  Make  your  own  map  showing  these  places 
and  put  alongside  of  each  one  the  name  of  the  explorer  who  discovered  it. 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Chevalier  Bayard.     sheVd-ler'  bi'erd  Huguenot.     hu'ge-n6t 

Coligny.     k6'len'ye'  Jean  Ribaut.     zhan  re'bo' 

Dominic    de    Gourgues.     dSm'I-nlk  Menendez.     ma-nen'dath 

de  gdorg'  Savoy,    sci-voi' 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE   DUTCH   FIGHT   AGAINST  THEIR  RULER, 
THE   KING    OF    SPAIN 

Poor  Spain  was  in  much  trouble.  The  swords  of  the 
Dutch  were  also  drawn  against  her,  just  when  she  needed 
all  of  her  strength  for  the  occupation  of  the  New  World. 

The  Dutch.  The  Dutch  were  the  inhabitants  of  Hol- 
land —  a  small  but  very  important  country  of  western 
Europe.  Holland  was  a  part  of  the  Netherlands,  which 
at  this  time  was  under  the  control  of  Spain. 

The  word  " Netherlands "  means  " lowlands"  and  was 
so  called  because  a  large  part  of  the  land  was  below  the 
level  of  the  sea.  Before  its  sturdy  and  industrious  in- 
habitants had  built  their  dykes  to  keep  back  the  ocean 
and  their  embankments  to  confine  the  rivers,  the  country 
was  very  often  an  unbroken  sheet  of  water  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  This  morass  was  not  a  very  promising 
place  hi  which  to  build  homes,  but  the  Dutch  were  a 


THE  DUTCH  FIGHT  AGAINST  THEIR  RULER 


267 


strong  and  determined  race  and  accomplished  wonders. 
They  built  great  strong  dykes  to  protect  them  from  the 
ocean  and  high  embankments  to  keep  the  rivers  within 
bounds.  They  then  turned  their  swamps  and  marshes 
into  the  most  beautiful  orchards,  gardens,  and  flower  beds. 
Great  cities  grew  up  and  a  large  part  of  the  commerce 
of  northern  Europe  was  carried  in  Dutch  boats.  "I  was 
sad  when  I  saw  Antwerp," 
said  a  Venetian  traveler, 
"for  I  saw  Venice  sur- 
passed." 

The  Quarrel  with  the 
King  of  Spain.  King 
Charles  of  Spain  was  the 
ruler  of  the  Netherlands 
when  the  Protestant  Ref- 
ormation broke  out  under 

Martin    Luther.     Many    of  THE  WINDMILLS  OF  HOLLAND 

V»arl  These  clums    structures  were  used  all 

Had 


ese  cumsy  srucures  were  use     a 
over  Holland  for  pumping  water.    They 
the     teachings     of      Luther     saved  a  vast  deal  of  hand  labor  and  were 

picturesque  figures  on  the  landscape. 

and   had  become  staunch 

Protestants.  This  among  other  things  made  Charles  very 
angry  and  he  was  determined  to  stamp  out  the  new 
religion  in  his  dominions.  In  his  attempt  to  do  so 
he  sent  many  persons  to  the  stake  or  to  the  scaffold. 
However,  he  made  very  little  headway  and  finally  left 
the  throne  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  a 
monastery. 

His  successor  was  his  son,  Philip  II.  Philip  tried  even 
harder  than  his  father  had  done  to  stamp  out  the  Prot- 
estant religion  in  the  Netherlands.  Philip  and  his  father 


268  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

were  both  sincere  men  and  thought  it  their  pious  duty 
before  God  to  put  an  end  to  the  Protestant  religion. 

The  "Beggars."  The  Dutch,  sorely  persecuted,  arose 
hi  revolt*  One  of  the  Spanish  leaders  in  a  moment  of 
disgust  called  them  the  " Beggars"  and  said  that  he  was 
not  afraid  of  anything  they  could  do.  The  Dutch  imme- 
diately adopted  the  name  and  the  cry  went  up,  "Long 
live  the  Beggars."  The  fury  of  the  people  knew  no  bounds. 
They  gathered  in  mobs,  smashed  images  in  the  churches, 
burned  libraries,  sacked  monasteries,  and  destroyed  many 
beautiful  works  of  art. 

The  Duke  of  Alva  (1567).  Just  at  the  time  when  De 
Gourgues  was  taking  his  terrible  vengeance  upon  the 
Spaniards  in  Florida,  Philip,  King  of  Spain,  sent  the  no- 
torious Duke  of  Alva  to  put  down  the  revolt  in  the 
Netherlands.  Alva  was  able,  but  merciless.  He  perse- 
cuted most  cruelly  on  every  hand  and  also  levied  op- 
pressive taxes.  One  of  these  was  called  "the  Tenth 
Penny"  or  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent  on  the  sale  of  all  goods. 
Business  was  ruined  and  the  people  were  almost  in  a 
panic  of  despair.  Catholics  also  who  opposed  the  oppres- 
sive designs  of  Alva  were  made  to  suffer  side  by  side  with 
their  Protestant  neighbors. 

William  of  Orange.  When  a  brave  people  are  deter- 
mined to  strike  for  their  liberty,  a  leader  usually  appears 
to  lead  them  out  of  bondage.  The  leader  in  this  case  was 
William  the  Silent,  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  later  called 
"the  Founder  of  Dutch  liberties." 

William  of  Orange  is  the  George  Washington  of  Holland. 
He  was  a  Roman  Catholic  up  to  this  time,  but  he  now 
became  a  Protestant.  Both  as  a  Protestant  and  as  a 


THE  DUTCH  FIGHT  AGAINST  THEIR  RULER 


269 


Catholic,  however,  he  set  his  face  firmly  against  religious 
persecution.  He  believed  that  a  man  had  a  right  to 
worship  God  in  his  own  way.  In  this  view  he  was  in 
advance  of  his  time. 


WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE  PLEDGING  His  JEWELS 

He  sold  or  pawned  his  estates  and  his  other  property,  even  his  furniture,  his 
plate,  and  his  jewelry,  and  borrowed  and  collected  money  wherever  he  could 
in  order  to  raise  an  army  with  which  to  deliver  the  Netherlands  from  their 
cruel  oppressors. 

For  more  than  forty  years  the  valiant  Dutch  struggled 
on,  never  despairing  of  then*  final  success.  They  took 
part  in  many  notable  battles  and  sieges  under  William, 
their  great  leader,  and  finally  (July  26,  1581),  they  made 
their  famous  Declaration  of  Independence  and  set  up  the 
Dutch  Republic. 


270  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Three  years  later,  William  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
a  hired  assassin.  Philip,  failing  to  conquer  his  formidable 
foe  in  battle,  had  announced  that  he  would  give  a  title  of 
nobility  and  a  large  sum  of  money  to  anyone  who  would 
deliver  William  into  his  hands  "dead  or  alive."  In  1584, 
William  was  struck  down.  "As  long  as  he  lived,"  says  our 
American  historian,  Motley,  "he  was  the  guiding  star  of 
a  whole  nation;  and  when  he  died,  the  little  children 
cried  in  the  streets." 

QUESTIONS    AND    SUGGESTIONS  —  TO    THE    PUPIL 

1.  Write  a  short  essay  on  William  of  Orange. 

2.  In  what  respects  does  life  in  Holland  differ  from  life  in  the  United 
States? 

3.  Do  you  think  that  we  have  any  lessons  to  learn  from  the  Dutch? 

4.  How  was  William  of  Orange  the  George  Washington  of  Holland? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 
Alva.    al'va  Antwerp.    Sut'werp 


CHAPTER  XXV 
ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN 

Even  after  the  death  of  "Father  William/'  the  Dutch 
fought  valiantly  against  their  Spanish  oppressors.  Twenty- 
five  years  of  fighting  elapsed  before  the  Spaniards  could 
be  induced  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  Nether- 
lands, and  even  then  they  did  it  in  a  roundabout  way. 

During  a  part  of  this  time,  the  Spaniards  were  compelled 
to  fight  the  English  as  well  as  the  Dutch.  Elizabeth  was 
the  queen  of  England  at  this  time  and,  as  a  powerful 
advocate  of  the  Protestant  religion,  she  was  cordially  dis- 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN         271 

liked  by  King  Philip  of  Spain  and  his  men.  They  looked 
upon  her  as  a  usurper  —  a  person  having  no  right  what- 
ever to  the  throne  —  and  plotted  to  place  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots,  the  cousin  of  Elizabeth,  upon  the  English  throne 
in  her  stead.  It  was  said  that  the  men  who  had  planned 
the  murder  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  were  planning  to  put 
Elizabeth  out  of  the  way  in  the  same  manner.  Knowledge 
of  this  alleged  plot  spread  over  England  and  it  was  soon 
seen  that  the  sturdy  Englishmen,  Catholic  as  well  as 
Protestant,  were  ready  to  rally  to  the  side  of  their  queen 
and  defend  her  from  all  harm.  So  a  few  months  after  the 
the  death  of  " Father  William,"  a  number  of  Englishmen 
formed  an  association  without  regard  to  religious  beliefs 
and  took  a  vow  to  defend  their  queen,  in  so  far  as  they 
were  able,  against  all  harm.  In  case  she  were  assassinated 
secretly,  they  said  that  they  would  send  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  "to  the  grave  instead  of  to  the  throne." 

In  the  meantime,  the  feeling  between  the  English  and 
the  Spaniards  was  becoming  more  intense.  The  English 
sympathized  greatly  with  the  struggling  Dutch  and  were 
sending  aid  to  them  in  their  fight  for  independence.  The 
Dutch  appreciated  this  sympathy  and  assistance  and  in- 
vited Elizabeth  to  be  then:  queen.  This  honor  she  de- 
clined, but  she  did  send  an  army  over  to  the  Netherlands 
to  fight  against  the  Spaniards. 

In  addition  to  this  army,  hordes  of  venturesome  young 
Englishmen,  attracted  by  the  heroic  struggle  which  the 
Dutch  were  making,  crossed  over  to  the  Netherlands  and 
enlisted  as  volunteers  in  the  army  of  that  country.  Many 
of  these  were  whole-souled,  hard-fisted,  rough-and-ready 
men  who  enjoyed  a  good  knock-down  fight  and  stood 


272  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

ever  ready  to  lend  a  hand  to  the  "under-dog"  hi  any 
contest. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney.  The  most  famous  of  these  soldiers 
of  fortune  was  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  Sidney  was  the  Chevalier 
Bayard  of  England.  He  was  a  man  of  good  family,  hand- 
some, educated,  refined,  and  in  every  sense  a  gentleman. 
He  was  received  at  the  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth  with 

marked  favor,  and  William  of 
Orange  pronounced  him  "one 
of  the  ripest  statesmen  in 
Europe."  Sidney  was  also 
brave  and  venturesome  and, 
like  many  Englishmen  of  his 
day,  dearly  loved  a  good  fight 
with  the  hated  Spaniard.  In 
1585,  he  was  eager  to  embark 
with  Sir  Francis  Drake  upon 
an  expedition  against  the  Span- 
iards in  the  West  Indies,  but 

was  prevented  by  Queen  Eliza- 
SIB  PHILIP  SIDNEY  ,     .,    /.  -,   .  , 

beth  from  doing  so  because  she 

reared,  as  one  writer  puts  it,  that  she  might  "lose  the 
brightest  jewel  of  her  times."  She  did  lose  him,  how- 
ever, in  the  following  year,  1586,  when  he  fell  in  the 
battle  of  Zutphen,  while  fighting  against  the  Spaniards 
for  the  liberty  of  the  Dutch.  His  deeds  in  this  battle 
were  heroic  in  the  extreme.  When  the  fighting  was 
fiercest,  "there  glittered  the  gilded  armor  of  our  gallant 
Sidney  —  as  he  spurred  his  white  charger  through  the 
storm  of  bullets,  now  to  encounter  a  fiery  foe,  anon  to 
save  a  friend  imperiled  by  unequal  numbers.  Two  horses 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN        273 

were  shot  beneath  him,  and  he  quickly  mounted  a  third." 

While  dashing  over  the  prostrate  bodies  of  the  slain  to 

rescue  a  friend  from  death,  he  was  struck  by  a  bullet  and 

fell  mortally  wounded.     As  he  was  being  carried  from  the 

field,  he  asked  for  a  drink  of  water  which  was  obtained 

with  difficulty  because  the  supply  was  short.    As  he  held 

the  decanter  to  his  lips,  his  eye  caught  the  appealing 

glance     of    a     dying    soldier. 

Without  tasting  the  water,  he 

handed  it  over  to  the  suffering 

man  and  said,  "Thy  necessity 

is  greater  than  mine."     Sixteen 

days   later,    this  most   perfect 

specimen    of    a    cultured    and 

chivalrous     gentleman    passed 

away.     It  was  said  of  him  that 

"he  treated  rich  and  poor,  his 

own  servants,  and  the  noblemen 

who     were     his    guests    alike 

and    alike     courteously,    con- 

.  ,       ,   ,        ,        £  „         &     , .  MARY  STUART 

siderately,  cheerfully,  anection- 

ately  —  so  leaving  a  blessing  wherever  he  went."  His 
body  was  taken  back  to  London  and  buried  in  the  famous 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

The  Death  of  Mary  Stuart.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
year  following  the  death  of  the  noble  Sidney  (1587),  Mary 
Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots,  was  beheaded  in  Fotheringay 
Castle,  on  the  order  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  queen  felt 
that  Mary  was  plotting  against  her  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  she  would  be  safer  with  Mary  out  of 
the  way. 


274  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Upon  the  death  of  Mary,  Philip,  King  of  Spain,  claimed 
the  English  crown  for  himself  or  for  his  daughter,  upon  the 
ground  that  he  was  descended  from  a  member  of  the 
English  royal  house.  In  order  to  enforce  his  claim,  he 
gathered  together  an  immense  fleet  in  the  harbors  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  and  made  ready  to  invade  England. 
There  was  every  reason  why  he  should  hurl  his  force 
against  the  British  Isles.  In  the  first  place,  he  wished  to 
dethrone  Elizabeth  and  thus  take  vengeance  upon  her  for 
the  death  of  Mary  Stuart.  He  also  wished  to  put  down 
the  Protestant  religion,  to  suppress  English  piracy  in 
America,  and  to  shut  off  the  assistance  which  was  being 
given  by  the  English  to  the  followers  of  William  of  Orange. 
Before  he  was  ready  to  sail,  however,  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
the  British  sea-rover,  dashed  into  Spanish  harbors  and  set 
fire  to  a  number  of  ships,  as  they  lay  at  anchor.  He  sailed 
boldly  into  the  Spanish  harbor  of  Cadiz  and,  after  driving 
to  cover  the  warships  which  stood  guard,  coolly  loaded 
his  own  vessels  with  as  much  of  the  Spanish  supplies  as 
he  dared  attempt  to  carry  away  and  then  set  fire  to  the 
rest,  after  cutting  their  cables  and  setting  them  adrift. 
More  than  one  hundred  ships,  loaded  with  valuable  sup- 
plies for  the  invasion  of  England,  were  thus  left  a  mass 
of  blazing  wrecks.  The  "  Dragon,"  as  the  Spaniards  called 
Drake,  went  on  his  way  in  high  glee.  When  he  returned 
to  England,  he  reported  that  he  had  "singed  the  beard  of 
the  King  of  Spain."  This  singeing  delayed  Philip's  invasion 
of  England  for  a  year. 

Drake  did  more  destruction,  however,  before  getting 
back  to  his  native  country.  For  days,  he  hovered  about 
the  Spanish  coasts,  plundering  and  sinking  the  vessels 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN       275 

that  came  his  way.  He  then  dashed  into  the  harbor  at 
Coruna  and  repeated  his  daring  exploit  of  Cadiz.  Again  he 
slipped  away  and,  near  the  Azores,  captured  a  great  Span- 
ish ship  on  its  way  from  America,  laden  with  treasure. 
The  very  audacity  of  this  bold  sea-dog  took  away  the 
breath  of  Europe  and  struck  terror  into  Spanish  hearts. 
One  day,  King  Philip  invited  a  lady  of  his  court  to  ride 
with  him  in  his  barge  on  one  of  the  small  Spanish  lakes, 
but  she  declined  because,  as  she  said,  she  was  afraid  that 
Sir  Francis  Drake  might  appear  and  capture  them. 

As  a  result  of  this  set-back,  the  invasion  of  England  had 
to  be  put  off  to  the  following  year  and,  in  the  meantime, 
the  shipyards  of  England  resounded  with  axes,  hammers, 
and  saws.  When  the  Spanish  fleet  finally  appeared,  the 
English  navy  was  ready  for  battle. 

"  The  Invincible  Armada."  Finally,  after  years  of  prep- 
aration, everything  was  ready  and  the  "  In  vincible  Ar- 
mada," as  Philip  boastingly  called  it,  set  out  for  England. 
But  the  English  were  not  to  be  caught  napping.  Keen- 
eyed  watchers  patrolled  the  coast  and  scanned  the  water 
of  the  English  Channel,  as  they  were  expecting  the  Spanish 
fleet  to  come  in  sight  at  any  moment.  While  they  were 
waiting,  the  officers  of  the  English  fleet  and  army  amused 
themselves  by  bowling  on  the  green  and  playing  other 
games.  On  a  pleasant  afternoon  in  July,  1588,  a  famous 
group  of  English  commanders  were  bowling  near  Plymouth 
in  the  southern  part  of  England.  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the 
man  who  "  held  the  candle  to  King  Philip's  beard,"  was 
there.  Sir  John  Hawkins,  slave-dealer  and  pirate,  and 
Sir  Martin  Frobisher,  the  hero  of  the  Arctic  seas,  formed 
part  of  the  company.  Lord  Howard,  the  high  admiral 


276 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


of  England  and  a  patriotic  Roman  Catholic,  was  also  a 
member  of  this  distinguished  group. 

While  the  bowling  match  was  in  progress,  a  small,  swift 
ship,  under  full  sail,  appeared  in  the  Plymouth  harbor. 
Her  commander  hurriedly  sought  out  the  English  captains 


THE  BOWLING  MATCH 

and  informed  them  that  on  that  morning  he  had  seen  the 
Spanish  Armada  off  the  coast  of  Cornwall.  This  was 
interesting  and  important  news  and  part  of  the  company 
dashed  hastily  for  the  shore.  Drake,  with  his  accustomed 
coolness,  however,  stopped  them  and  insisted  that  they 
should  finish  the  match.  "  There  is  time  to  finish  the 
game  first,"  he  explained,  "and  beat  the  Spaniards  after- 
wards." Drake  did  not  have  a  very  high  respect  for 
Spanish  skill  and  valor. 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN        277 

The  Fleet  Appears.  It  was  not  a  false  alarm.  One 
hundred  and  thirty  great  black  hulks  appeared  in  the 
English  Channel,  carrying  thirty  thousand  men  and  three 
thousand  cannon.  They  also  carried  racks  and  thumb- 
screws and  nearly  one  hundred  executioners.  The  English 
ships,  following  the  advice  of  Drake,  permitted  the  Span- 
ish squadron  to  sail  up  the  Channel  unmolested.  The 
British  boats  then  closed  in  upon  the  rear  and  the  fight 
was  soon  on. 

The  Contrast.  The  two  fleets  differed  greatly.  The 
Spanish  boats  were  larger  and  stood  up  higher  out  of 
the  water,  so  that  their  gunners  might  command  the  decks 
of  the  enemy's  ships.  These  large,  clumsy  boats  carried 
more  soldiers  than  sailors  and  but  very  few  cannon.  The 
British  boats,  on  the  contrary,  were  somewhat  smaller, 
much  more  speedy,  and  carried  more  sailors  than  soldiers. 
They  also  had  more  and  better  guns.  In  many  instances, 
the  nimble  English  ship,  with  its  skillful  sailors  and  longer 
range  guns,  was  able  to  shoot  a  Spanish  ship  to  splinters 
and  then  withdraw  unharmed. 

The  Slaughter  off  Calais.  Finally  the  Spanish  fleet 
halted  and  dropped  anchor  off  the  city  of  Calais,  on  the 
north  coast  of  France,  with  the  English  only  two  miles 
away.  The  ready  wits  of  the  British  were  devising  a 
plan  to  dislodge  them.  The  plan  was  put  into  effect 
shortly  after  midnight  on  the  following  day,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  Sunday.  Out  of  the  inky  darkness,  eight 
English  ships,  filled  with  combustible  material  and  coated 
with  pitch,  were  rowed  silently  into  the  midst  of  the 
Spanish  fleet,  lying  peacefully  at  anchor.  At  a  given 
signal,  the  torch  was  applied  and  the  fierce  flames  from  the 


278  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

burning  ships  lit  up  the  sky.  Before  the  panic-stricken 
Spaniards  could  make  out  what  was  going  on,  the  blazing 
ships,  propelled  by  wind  and  tide,  were  bumping  against  the 
sides  of  their  vessels.  A  panic  ensued.  Cables  were  cut  and 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  RECEIVING  DON  PEDRO'S  SWORD 

The  Spanish  Admiral  with  forty  of  his  officers  and  all  his  treasure  was  brought 
a  prisoner  on  board  the  "  Revenge."  Drake  treated  him  with  courtesy,  and 
he  was  afterwards  ransomed  for  three  thousand  pounds. 

the  Spanish  fleet  went  out  to  sea,  drifting  in  confusion 
before  the  wind.  Early  in  the  morning,  Drake  and  his 
companions  closed  in  on  the  Spaniards.  Three  large 
galleons  were  sunk  and  three  others  foundered  helplessly 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN       279 

on  the  shore,  and  the  splendid  ship  of  Admiral  Don  Pedro 
de  Valdes  fell  into  the  hands  of  Drake. 

The  Spaniard  still  had  ships  enough  left,  but  his  spirit 
was  gone.  As  the  historian  Green  puts  it,  "  huddled 
together  by  the  wind  and  the  deadly  English  fire,  their 
sails  torn,  their  masts  shot  away,  the  crowded  galleons 
had  become  mere  slaughter-houses.  Four  thousand  men 
had  fallen,  and  bravely  as  the  seamen  fought  they  were 
cowed  by  the  terrible  butchery."  The  commander,  in 
despair,  called  a  council  of  war  and  it  was  determined  to 
make  an  attempt  to  get  back  to  Spain  by  rounding  the 
northern  coasts  of  Scotland  and  Ireland.  This  delighted 
the  British.  •"  Never  anything  pleased  me  better,"  Drake 
wrote,  "than  seeing  the  enemy  fly  with  a  southerly  wind 
to  the  northward."  And  he  was  probably  right  when  he 
said  that  the  commander  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  the  Duke  of 
Sidonia,  would  soon  be  wishing  for  his  quiet  home  among 
the  orange-trees  in  Spain. 

The  Pursuit.  The  fate  of  the  Armada  was  practically 
sealed  when  the  English  fleet  closed  in  and  cut  off  its 
retreat.  The  Spaniards  soon  found  that  they  were  bot- 
tled up  in  the  German  Ocean  with  the  English  vessels  pur- 
suing them  in  front  of  a  strong  wind.  The  Spanish  fleet 
had  planned  to  stop  at  the  Netherlands  and  transport  the 
Spanish  army  over  to  England.  You  can  imagine  the 
dismay  and  disappointment  of  the  Spanish  soldiers  as  they 
stood  on  the  shore  and  saw  the  terror-stricken  Armada  flee- 
ing madly  towards  the  north.  The  English  hung  doggedly 
on  the  rear,  sinking  and  burning  the  Spanish  ships  and  pick- 
ing off  the  Spanish  seamen.  "  The  feathers  of  the  Spaniards," 
said  an  English  seaman, "  were  plucked  one  by  one." 


280 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


The  Work  of  Destruction.  For  two  days,  Drake  and 
Howard  and  the  other  English  commanders  gave  chase 
to  the  flying  squadron.  Then  with  ammunition  and 
supplies  exhausted,  they  turned  back  in  disappointment. 
The  Spaniard,  however,  was  not  yet  safe.  He  immediately 
encountered  a  foe  far  more  dangerous  than  the  English  sea- 
dogs.  While  off  the  Orkney 
Islands,  a  terrific  northern 
storm  broke  over  the  fleet. 
Some  of  the  ships  were 
dashed  to  pieces  against  the 
cliffs  of  the  Irish  coast.  Eight 
thousand  Spaniards  were 
strewn  along  the  beach  near 
the  Giant's  Causeway.  An 
English  sea  captain  counted 
eleven  hundred  bodies  cast 
up  by  the  sea  on  the  Sligo 
coast.  The  poor  unfortu- 
nates who  succeeded  in  get- 
ting ashore  fared  even  worse 
than  their  companions,  as 
many  of  them  were  robbed 
and  slain  while  others  were 
shipped  to  England  with  halters  about  their  necks.  Queen 
Elizabeth  did  not  wish  to  put  these  men  to  death,  neither 
would  she  permit  them  to  remain  in  England;  so  she 
packed  them  off  to  Spain,  "to  recount  the  worthy  achieve- 
ments of  their  Invincible  Armada." 

One  hundred   and   twenty   ships  had   set   sail   against 
England  and  of  these  only  fifty  returned  to  Spain,  "bear- 


THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE  SPANISH  AKMADA 


ENGLISHMEN  JOIN  IN  FIGHT  AGAINST  SPAIN        281 

ing  ten  thousand  men,  stricken  with  pestilence  and  death." 
Twenty  thousand  soldiers,  including  the  flower  of  the 
Spanish  nobility,  had  perished  while  England  lost  scarcely 
one  hundred  men. 

In  order  to  commemorate  the  victory,  Queen  Elizabeth 
caused  a  medal  to  be  struck  with  this  inscription:  "God 
blew  with  his  wind  and  they  were  scattered."  It  is  true 
that  "the  winds  had  done  their  part,  but  the  victory  was 
mainly  due  to  the  seamanship  of  the  English  mariners  and 
the  skill  of  English  shipwrights." 

The  Importance  of  the  Defeat  of  Spain.  It  may  seem 
like  a  waste  of  time  to  tell  the  story  of  the  defeat  of  the 
Spanish  Armada  in  an  introduction  to  American  history; 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  great  sea-fight  had  a  very 
important  bearing  on  American  colonization.  Before  suc- 
cessful English  colonies  could  be  planted  in  America,  it 
was  necessary  that  England  should  control  the  ocean 
routes.  As  John  Fiske,  an  eminent  historian,  says,  it  was 
necessary  "to  destroy  the  naval  power  of  Spain  before 
England  could  occupy  the  soil  of  North  America.  The 
defeat  of  the  Invincible  Armada  was  the  opening  event  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  event  that 
made  all  the  rest  possible.  Without  it,  the  attempts  at 
Jamestown  and  Plymouth  could  hardly  have  been  more 
successful  than  the  attempt  at  Roanoke  Island."  Just  why 
the  attempt  at  Roanoke  failed,  we  shall  see  in  the  following 
chapter.  For  the  present,  it  is  only  necessary  for  us  to 
remember  that  the  defeat  of  Spain  opened  the  way  for  Eng- 
lish colonization  and  that  henceforth  the  English  colonies 
would  be  free  from  the  danger  of  such  a  Spanish  attack  as 
that  which  ruined  Coligny's  ill-fated  colony  in  Florida. 


282  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

QUESTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS  —  TO    THE   PUPIL 

1.  Do  you  think  Elizabeth  had  any  other  reason  for  helping  the  Dutch 
than  her  sympathy  on  account  of  religion? 

2.  Locate  on  your  map  the  place  where  the  Spanish  Armada  met  defeat. 

3.  What  advantages  had  the  British  in  this  battle? 

4.  Why  was  "  the  defeat  of  the  Invincible  Armada  the  opening  event  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States  "  ? 

PRONOUNCING  LIST 

Calais,     kal'a  Sidonia.     se-don'I-d 

Coruna.    k6-roon'ya  Zutphen.    ztit'fen 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE     EARLY    ATTEMPTS     OF    THE     ENGLISH     TO 
FOUND    COLONIES   IN    NORTH   AMERICA 

The  first  permanent  English  settlement  in  North  Amer- 
ica was  made  at  Jamestown,  Virginia,  in  1607.  This  was 
one  hundred  and  ten  years  after  John  Cabot  had  made  his 
famous  voyage  to  the  New  World.  Although  England  is 
usually  very  energetic  and  enterprising  in  planting  colonies 
and  securing  new  territory,  in  this  instance  she  was  very 
slow  in  following  up  the  advantage  of  the  Cabot  voyages. 
For  some  strange  reason,  the  English  really  took  very 
little  interest  in  the  voyages  of  John  Cabot.  They  looked 
upon  his  expeditions  as  failures.  They  knew  that  Cabot 
had  sailed  away  in  search  of  the  gold  and  spices  of  the 
East  and  had  returned  empty-handed.  They  also  knew 
that  Vasco  da  Gama  had  returned  to  Lisbon  a  year  or  two 
later,  laden  with  rich  eastern  treasures.  Consequently  they 
seemed  to  forget  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  shores  visited 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND  COLONIES 


283 


by  John  Cabot   and  turned  their  thoughts    in    other  di- 
rections. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  Pope's  Line  of  1493  had  given 
America  to  Spain.  This  too  had  some  influence  in  delay- 
ing English  colonization.  Another  and  very  important 


FRENCH,  SPANISH,  AND  ENGLISH  EXPLORATIONS  IN  AMERICA  UP  TO  1600 

reason  for  England's  delay  was  the  fact  that  she  was  not 
strong  enough  upon  the  sea  before  the  defeat  of  the  In- 
vincible Armada  to  defy  the  power  of  Spain.  Now,  how- 
ever, things  had  changed.  The  Protestant  Reformation 
had  taken  place  and  England  had  become  a  Protestant 
country.  The  Pope's  decrees  were  no  longer  considered 
binding.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  since  the  defeat 


284  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

of   the  Armada,   England  was  no   longer  afraid   of   the 
Spaniards  upon  the  sea. 

The  Seamen.  The  English  people  of  this  time  were 
more  active  and  enterprising  than  they  had  ever  been 
before  and  their  action  and  enterprise  were  best  reflected 
in  the  daring  deeds  of  their  brilliant  seamen.  It  was 
during  this  reign,  as  we  have  seen,  that  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  man  who  "  singed  the  beard  of  the  King  of 
Spain,"  made  his  famous  voyage  around  the  globe.  Martin 
Frobisher  and  John  Davis  had  carried  the  English  flag 
to  the  extreme  northwest  in  searching  for  the  passage  to 
India  and  Captain  John  Hawkins,  the  founder  of  the  Eng- 
lish slave  trade,  had  befriended  the  woe-begone  Huguenot 
colony  on  St.  John's  River  in  Florida.  These  daring  sea- 
men, however,  were  intent  upon  exploration,  gold  hunting, 
and  the  plundering  of  Spanish  ships,  and  apparently  gave 
little  or  no  thought  to  colonization. 

Gilbert  and  Raleigh.  But  while  the  Drakes  and  the 
Hawkinses  looked  upon  the  planting  of  colonies  in  the 
American  wilderness  as  a  rather  prosy  business  and  would 
have  none  of  it,  there  were  other  men  of  the  time  who  saw 
great  possibilities  in  the  colonization  of  the  New  World. 
The  pioneers  in  the  English  colonization  of  North  America 
—  the  fathers  of  the  English  colonial  idea  —  were  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Gilbert  and  his  step-brother,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
These  men  saw  that  there  was  more  wealth,  in  all  proba- 
bility, in  the  fertility  of  the  soil  than  there  was  in  the 
mines  of  the  new  world. 

Gilbert,  a  bright  English  lad,  was  born  near  Dartmouth, 
about  twenty  years  before  Elizabeth  became  queen.  He 
went  to  college  at  Oxford  and  then  entered  the  army, 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND  COLONIES 


285 


where  he  was  brilliantly  successful.  The  New  World 
attracted  his  attention,  and  he  wrote  a  book  about  the 
discovery  of  a  passage  to  China  and  India.  At  a  later 
time  (1578),  he  asked  the  queen  to  give  him  permission  to 
establish  a  colony  in  North  America.  The  queen  com- 
plied with  his  request  and  gave  him  the  first  colonial 
charter  ever  granted  by  an  English  monarch.  This  char- 
ter gave  him  permission  to  take 
possession  of  any  lands  in  North 
America,  then  unsettled,  and  in 
return  for  this  privilege  he 
promised  to  give  the  queen  one 
fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver 
which  he  might  obtain.  He 
was  to  rule  absolutely  over  his 
colony,  subject  only  to  the 
wishes  of  the  queen.  The  most 
important  clause  in  this  docu- 
ment yet  remains  to  be  men- 
tioned. The  charter  guaranteed 
to  Gilbert  and  his  followers  all 
of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 

Englishmen.  In  other  words,  the  members  of  the  new 
colony  were  to  have  the  same  rights  and  privileges  which 
the  people  of  England  possessed  at  that  time.  It  was  for 
these  same  rights  and  privileges  that  our  forefathers  fought 
two  centuries  later  in  the  American  Revolution.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  the  charter  granted  to  Gilbert  con- 
tained the  germ  of  the  war  for  American  independence. 
The  First  Voyage.  With  this  precious  document  in  his 
possession,  Gilbert  set  out  for  Newfoundland  in  1579  with 


SIR  HUMPHREY  GILBERT 


286  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

a  small  fleet  of  vessels.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  step- 
brother, Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  a  handsome,  brilliant,  and 
attractive  young  man  of  twenty-six,  who  had  just  returned 
from  fighting  as  a  volunteer  in  the  Netherlands. 

Both  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  had  visions  of  the  future 
greatness  of  America.  They  also  believed,  as  did  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  that  the  best  way  to  dispose  of  the  Span- 
iard was  to  whip  him  upon  the  sea.  They  also  thought 
that  England  should  have  colonies  in  America  for  pur- 
poses of  trade  and  to  serve  as  outposts  against  Spain  in 
time  of  war.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Spanish 
Armada  had  not  yet  been  defeated,  but  these  two  far- 
seeing  men  were  able  to  look  into  the  future  and  foresee 
the  deadly  contest  which  was  certain  to  take  place  between 
England  and  Spain.  They  wanted  to  be  ready  for  that 
contest  when  it  came. 

Gilbert,  apparently,  did  not  care  to  follow  the  frozen 
trail  of  Frobisher  in  the  northern  latitudes  but  set  out  for 
Newfoundland,  attracted,  no  doubt,  by  the  rich  fisheries 
of  that  locality.  Nothing  came  of  this  voyage.  The  ships 
were  buffeted  about  by  severe  storms,  one  of  them  was 
destroyed  in  a  fight  with  a  Spanish  warship,  and  the  rest 
were  compelled  to  return  to  England. 

Another  Voyage  (1583).  Not  daunted  by  this  rough 
experience,  Gilbert  set  out  upon  another  voyage  to  New- 
foundland as  soon  as  he  could  procure  the  necessary  men, 
money,  and  ships.  In  1583,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth 
harbor  with  a  small  squadron.  Raleigh  and  other  friends 
furnished  the  capital  for  the  expedition,  and  the  queen 
sent  him  a  gold  anchor  as  a  token  of  good-will  and 
esteem. 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND  COLONIES  287 

In  August,  Gilbert  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  St.  John, 
where  Cartier  had  been  nearly  fifty  years  before.  He 
found  about  four  hundred  ships  in  the  vicinity,  most  of 
them  owned  by  the  Spaniards  and  the  Portuguese  and  all 
of  them  engaged  in  fishing.  Calling  the  fishermen  to- 
gether, he  went  ashore  and  set  up  in  their  presence  a 
column  with  the  armor  of  England  upon  it  and  then 
proceeded  to  take  possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of 
his  queen  and  country. 

Again  the  storms  came  on  and  shattered  his  fleet,  but 
after  some  repairs  he  proceeded  to  explore  the  southern 
coast  of  the  island  in  search  of  a  suitable  site  for  a  colony. 
Near  Cape  Breton,  another  tempest  tossed  him  about  and 
his  largest  vessel  was  smashed  against  a  sunken  rock. 
Nearly  one  hundred  men  were  lost.  Gilbert,  however, 
found  safety  in  a  tiny  vessel.  He  now  had  only  one  ship, 
in  addition  to  the  little  skiff  in  which  he  himself  sailed, 
and  this  was  loaded  with  worthless  rock,  which  was  sup- 
posed to  contain  silver  ore.  The  two  ships  started  home- 
ward and  again  a  September  gale  tossed  them  about. 
The  commander  of  the  companion  ship,  being  greatly 
alarmed,  shouted  across  the  waves  to  Gilbert  that  they 
were  all  likely  to  be  lost.  But  the  cool  and  fearless 
navigator,  sitting  quietly  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  shouted 
cheerily  back  to  his  panic-stricken  mate:  ''The  way  to 
Heaven  is  as  near  by  sea  as  by  land." 

Longfellow  tells  the  story  in  this  way: 

"Beside  the  helm  he  sat: 
The  book  was  in  his  hand. 
'Fear  not/  he  cried,  'heaven  is  as  near 
By  water  as  by  land.'" 


288 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


The  storm  increased,  night  fell,  and  the  darkness  was 
intense.  Each  ship  was  nervously  watching  the  other. 
At  midnight,  the  captain,  who  had  shouted  the  warning, 
saw  the  lights  on  Gilbert's  ship  suddenly  go  out.  The 
vessel  had  sunk  and  all  were  lost.  The  brave  Gilbert 
went  to  his  death,  but  the  ship,  bearing  the  worthless 
rock,  came  into  port  in  safety. 

The  Exploits  of  Raleigh. 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  continued 
to  send  expeditions  to  America, 
after  the  death  of  his  brave 
brother.  Raleigh,  the  famous 
soldier,  sea-rover,  colonizer,  and 
author,  was  born  in  Devon- 
shire, England,  in  1552.  He 
was  a  student  at  Oxford  Uni- 
versity and,  when  a  boy  of 
seventeen,  had  gone  as  a  soldier 
to  France  to  fight  for  the 
Huguenots.  After  that,  he 
fought  against  Spain  in  the 
Netherlands  and  then  went  into 
partnership  with  Gilbert  in  an  attempt  to  found  colonies 
in  North  America.  Fortunately,  he  was  not  with  Gilbert 
on  his  fatal  voyage  and  he  was  not  daunted  by  the  death 
of  his  brave  partner.  He  still  had  faith  in  America  and 
spent  a  large  fortune  in  his  colonizing  ventures. 

He  made  up  his  mind,  however,  to  abandon  Newfound- 
land, and  to  go  to  the  milder  climate  of  the  south;  so 
in  1584,  he  sent  out  two  ships  under  the  command  of 
Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur  Barlow.  On  the  fourth  of 


SIE  WALTER  RALEIGH 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND  COLONIES  289 

July,  Amadas  and  Barlow  reached  the  coast  of  what  is 
now  known  as  North  Carolina,  where  they  penetrated 
Pamlico  Sound  and  visited  Roanoke  Island.  Waving 
the  flag  of  England  over  this  beautiful  place,  they  took 
possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  then*  queen.  Says  Fiske, 
"They  admired  the  noble  pine  trees  and  red  cedars,  mar- 
veled at  the  abundance  of  game,  and  found  the  native 
barbarians  polite  and  friendly. "  They  explored  the  shore 
for  a  considerable  distance  and  named  the  country 
"Virginia"  in  honor  of  Elizabeth,  the  maiden  queen. 

They  made  no  attempt  at  settlement  at  this  time,  but 
they  did  try  to  converse  with  the  Indians  and  to  get 
information  from  them  in  regard  to  the  country.  They 
were  not  very  successful  in  carrying  on  conversation  with 
the  natives,  but  they  reported  when  they  got  back  home 
that  they  had  found  the  Indians  to  be  "people  most 
gentle,  loving,  and  faithful."  Later  colonists  had  a  very 
different  story  to  tell. 

The  Roanoke  Colony  (1585).  The  glowing  accounts  of 
these  explorers  encouraged  Raleigh  to  attempt  to  plant 
a  colony  in  southern  latitudes.  In  the  spring  of  1585,  he 
sent  out  a  fleet  of  eight  vessels,  bearing  one  hundred  and 
eight  men  bound  for  the  New  World.  Ralph  Lane  was 
to  have  charge  of  the  colony  and  Sir  Richard  Grenville, 
Raleigh's  cousin,  commanded  the  fleet.  Grenville  scoured 
the  seas  and  plundered  the  rich  ships  of  the  Spaniards  for 
a  tune  and  after  narrowly  escaping  shipwreck  on  a  point 
of  land,  which  the  company  named  "Cape  Fear,"  landed 
his  little  company  on  Roanoke  Island.  As  soon  as  they 
touched  the  shore,  trouble  with  the  natives  began.  One  of 
the  Indians  stole  a  silver  cup  and  Grenville  in  retaliation 


290  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

set  fire  to  their  standing  corn.  The  fight  between  the 
redmen  and  the  pale-face  colonist  was  now  on.  After 
starting  this  conflict,  Grenville  turned  over  the  colony  to 
Lane  and  sailed  away.  Lane,  a  man  of  energy  and  good 
sense,  explored  the  country  in  search  of  a  suitable  site 
for  his  settlement.  He  went  some  distance  into  the 
interior  and  even  tried  to  find  a  strait  leading  to  India. 

The  colonists  were  a  shiftless  and  worthless  lot  and 
things  did  not  go  well.  They  could  play  the  pirate  or 
hunt  for  gold,  but  tilling  the  soil  was  real  work  and  they 
did  not  care  for  it.  They  were  suffering  from  a  lack  of 
food  and  were  beginning  to  pine  for  the  folks  at  home 
when  the  "Dragon"  Drake  suddenly  appeared  with  a  fine 
fleet  of  twenty-three  ships.  Lane  and  his  starving  and 
homesick  companions  were  only  too  glad  to  be  taken  back 
to  England.  They  started  on  their  way  rejoicing,  but  had 
scarcely  gotten  out  of  sight  when  Grenville  sailed  into 
port  with  supplies.  Much  to  his  astonishment,  he  found 
that  the  place  had  been  abandoned.  No  living  creature 
appeared  in  view,  although  he  searched  the  surrounding 
country  carefully.  Leaving  fifteen  of  his  men  to  the  rather 
lonesome  task  of  holding  the  site  of  the  colony,  Grenville 
departed. 

"  The  Lost  Colony."  Planting  colonies  in  the  New 
World  seemed  to  be  up-hill  business,  and  yet  Raleigh 
was  apparently  not  discouraged.  In  1587  he  sent  out 
another  band  of  colonists  to  the  Carolina  coast  —  this 
time  under  the  control  of  John  White,  an  artist.  The 
company  included  seventeen  women  and  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  men.  They  intended  to  stop  at  Roanoke 
Island  and  take  on  board  the  fifteen  men  left  by  Gren- 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND  COLONIES 


291 


ville  and  then  proceed  to  the  shore  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 
They  touched  at  Roanoke,  but  could  find  no  trace  of  the 
fifteen  men  left  on  the  lonesome  vigil.  The  fort  was  in 
ruins  and  deer  were  quietly  grazing  on  the  spot  where  the 
colony  once  stood.  The 
little  guard  had  probably 
been  massacred  by  the 
Indians.  Instead  of  going 
on  to  the  Chesapeake  coun- 
try, White  left  a  company 
of  eighty-nine  men,  women, 
and  children  at  Roanoke 
and  went  back  to  England 
in  the  same  year. 

Soon  after  White's  return 
home,  the  "  Invincible  Arm- 
ada" appeared  in  the  Eng- 
lish Channel.  There  was 
now  no  time  to  think  of 
anything  but  the  Spanish 
foe.  Sir  Walter  did  not 
forget  his  struggling  colony, 
however,  and  on  two  dif- 
ferent occasions  he  fitted  out  relief  ships  to  be  sent  to 
Roanoke.  The  ships,  however,  were  either  impressed  into 
the  service  of  the  government  or  driven  back  to  port  by 
the  Spaniards,  and  for  three  years  the  colony  was  left  to 
shift  for  itself.  When  White  did  finally  succeed  in  getting 
to  America  he  was  too  late.  The  place  was  deserted, 
grass  was  growing  in  the  fort,  and  the  whole  scene  was 
one  of  desolation.  The  colonists  had  gone  —  nobody  has 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH, 

FRENCH,  AND  SPANISH  IN  THE  NEW 

WORLD 


292 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


ever  known  where,  but  a  great  many  guesses  have  been 
made.  They  may  have  been  killed  by  the  Indians,  or 
they  may  have  gone  to  live  with  friendly  natives.  They 
are  spoken  of  to  this  day  as  " Raleigh's  Lost  Colony." 


THE  LANDING  AT  JAMESTOWN 

Here  in  1607  was  founded  the  first  permanent  English  colony  on  the  North 
American  continent. 

Raleigh  had  now  spent  his  own  large  fortune  and  also 
all  of  the  money  he  could  get  from  the  Queen  and  other 
friends  and  had  not  succeeded  in  planting  a  successful 
colony  on  American  soil.  It  was  soon  seen  that  the  found- 
ing of  colonies  was  too  large  and  too  costly  an  enterprise 
for  private  individuals  to  undertake.  And  so  companies 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  FOUND   COLONIES  293 

were  organized  to  do  the  work  which  Gilbert  and  Raleigh 
had  failed  to  accomplish. 

A  body  of  men  known  as  the  London  Company  was 
organized  for  this  purpose  and  these  men  succeeded  in 
establishing  the  first  permanent  English  colony  on  our 
shores.  It  was  located  at  Jamestown,  Virginia,  and  the 
date  of  its  founding  is  1607.  At  this  point  the  history  of 
the  English  colonies  in  America  begins  and  our  present 
story  comes  to  an  end. 

In  this  " Introduction  to  American  History"  we  have 
tried  to  show  that  Europe  is  the  Mother  of  America.  The 
beginnings  of  American  History  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Old  World.  The  roots  of  our  history  and  institutions 
may  be  traced  to  European  soil.  American  history  is  the 
continuation  and  the  outgrowth  of  the  history  of  Europe. 
American  civilization,  on  the  whole,  is  based  on  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Europe,  although  it  has  developed  along  independ- 
ent lines  and  is  now  very  different  in  some  respects  from 
the  civilization  of  the  mother  country.  We  cannot,  there- 
fore, understand  the  history  of  our  own  country  without 
knowing  something  of  the  history  of  Europe.  We  trust 
that  a  study  of  this  little  book  will  enable  you  to  under- 
stand better  and  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  wonderful 
story  of  your  country's  history  from  the  founding  of 
Jamestown  to  the  present  day. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  —  TO  THE  PUPIL 

1.  Neither  Gilbert  nor  Raleigh  succeeded  in  establishing  a  permanent 
settlement  in  America.    Why?    Was  the  work  they  did  of  no  avail? 

2.  Imagine  yourself  a  member  of  "  Raleigh's  Lost  Colony."     Make  a 
diary  showing  what  really  became  of  yourself  and  companions. 


294  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

3.  To-day  in  this  New  World  Spain's  mark  is  indelibly  imprinted 
on  Mexico,  and  Central  and  South  America.  The  French  influence  is  felt  in 
Canada.  The  territory  occupied  by  the  United  States  is  the  sphere  of 
English  influence  so,  naturally,  we  have  been  more  interested  in  following 
the  progress  of  England. 

As  a  result  of  the  Spanish-American  War  (1898),  several  million  people 
who  were  subjects  of  Spam  and  who  speak  the  Spanish  language,  have 
been  taken  under  our  flag.  Do  >ou  not  think  it  well  for  the  United  States 
to  begin  to  give  more  attention  to  Spanish  life,  customs,  and  language,  in 
order  to  do  our  best  for  these  people? 

Remember,  too,  the  great  advantage  it  would  give  the  United  States 
commercially  in  Central  and  South  America,  if  we  understood  the  Spanish 
better. 

PRONOUNCING   LIST 

Breton.     breVftn  Frobisher.     fr6b'Ish-er 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   TEACHERS  295 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS 

This  text-book  for  the  sixth  grade  is  an  attempt  to  follow  out 
the  recommendations  of  the  Committee  of  Eight  of  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Association.  The  first  seventeen  chapters  show 
how  far  back  the  roots  of  our  history  extend  and  what  have  been 
the  contributions  of  the  Ancient  World  to  the  "New  World." 
The  last  nine  chapters  cover  the  period  of  discovery  and  explora- 
tion down  to  the  settlement  of  Jamestown.  These  points  have 
been  emphasized: 

1.  The  steady  westward  movement,  from  the  five  early  na- 
tions dealt  with  in  the  first   chapter,  on  to  Greece,  to  Rome, 
and  through  the  expansion  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  England; 
the  overthrow  of  the  Romans  by  the  Germans;  the  beginning  of 
modern  European  States;    the  revival  of  learning  following  the 
Dark  Ages;    the  discovery  of  America;    and  the  struggle  for  su- 
premacy in  the  New  World. 

2.  The  growth  of  knowledge  of  the  earth  and  its  people;   the 
changing  conception  of  the  shape  and  size  of  the  earth;    the 
contributions  of  early  peoples  to  the  discovery  of  America,  and 
the  consequent  broadening  of  man's  conception  of  his  relation 
to  the  world. 

3.  The    contributions   of   each   of   these   great   Nations   and 
peoples  to  the  stream  of  world  civilization.     An  effort  has  been 
made  to  show  clearly  how  much  we  at  this  day  are  indebted  to 
all  the  ages  that  have  gone  before  —  that  we,  here  in  the  United 
States,  are  truly  "the  heirs  of  all  the  ages." 

This  text  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  seventh  and  eighth 
years  will  be  given  chiefly  to  a  serious  study  of  United  States 
history. 

The  treatment  has  been  in  the  main  chronological,  without 
any  attempt,  however,  to  give  a  connected  history  of  any  na- 
tion. The  principal  aim  has  been  to  adapt  the  material  of  his- 
tory to  the  sixth-grade  child  in  such  a  way  that  he  may  acquire 
the  historical  sense  and  perspective,  so  that  he  may  feel  some- 
thing of  the  spirit  of  history  and  may  have  an  interest  in  human 
progress  and  development. 


296  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

Howsoever  excellent  any  text-book  may  be  it  will  not  teach  itself. 
It  is  only  the  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil  by  means  of  which 
the  teacher  may  guide  him  into  the  realization  of  the  aims 
stated  above.  So  it  is  thought  well  in  this  connection  to  make 
some  specific  suggestions  to  teachers  of  history  —  suggestions 
most  of  which  are  the  outcome  of  actual  experience  in  classroom 
work.  These  suggestions  are  based  upon  the  following  beliefs: 

1.  That  the  material  aspects  of  the  past  must  furnish  the 
foundation.     Vivid  images  of  concrete  things  in  the  past  may 
best  be  created  by  pictures,  models,  casts,  and  the  like. 

2.  That  the  particular  acts  of  the  children  or  of  their  elders 
must  furnish  the  basis  for  comprehension  of  historic  acts.    These 
should  be  supplemented  by  word-pictures  and  stories  concretely 
told. 

3.  That  children  must  be  led  to  think  and  feel  about  certain 
men  and  acts  as  these  men  themselves  felt,  by: 

a.  Dramatization  of  historic  scenes. 

b.  Writing  imaginary  letters. 

c.  Imagining  themselves  present  at  certain  scenes,  and  re- 

lating what  happened. 

d.  Keeping  imaginary  diaries. 

e.  Expressing  written  opinions  on  certain  acts,  either  de- 

defending  or  opposing. 
/.   Learning  and  reciting  parts  of  famous  speeches  or  poems. 

4.  Collective  facts  can   only  be  securely   fixed   through  the 
massing  of  particular  instances. 


SUGGESTIONS 

I.  USE  OF  THE  RECITATION  PERIOD 

1.  One  of  the  standards  of  judging  classroom  teaching  in  any 
subject  is  the  extent  to  which  it  provides  for  the  individuality 
of  the  child.  There  is  danger  in  history  teaching  that  it  will 
become  merely  a  "cramming  process"  and  that  the  child  will 
have  no  opportunity  to  react  to  the  mass  of  historical  information 
with  which  he  comes  in  contact.  The  child's  natural  curiosity 
and  desire  to  know  more  about  things  should  always  be  en- 
couraged. So  the  recitation  period,  instead  of  being  a  time  when 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS  297 

children  "recite"  facts  read  from  the  text,  should  rather  be  a 
time  for  asking  questions  and  for  clearing  away  misconceptions. 

Let  the  recitation  period  be  given  over  at  times  merely  to 
finding  some  live  problem  which  is  a  felt  need  on  the  part  of 
the  children,  and  subsequent  periods  may  be  given  to  having 
children  offer  their  contributions  to  its  solution.  The  absence 
of  many  fact  questions  at  the  ends  of  the  chapters  is  to  be 
noted.  Questions  arising  from  within  the  children  themselves 
will  set  the  first  and  most  fundamental  requirement  for  sys- 
tematic study. 

2.  This  period  should  be  used  at  times  to  show  the  children 
how  to  use  a  text.     Certain  chapters  should  be  read  through 
slowly  and  critically  with  frequent  reference  to  maps,  diction- 
aries, pronouncing  list,  and  other  supplementary  material. 

3.  Other  chapters,  as  for  instance  Chapter  XIX  on  "  Colum- 
bus," should  be  read  straight  through  as  a  reading  lesson. 

4.  This   period  is  the  best  time  for  the  massing  of  single 
details  into  collective  facts,  in  other  words,  for  the  organization 
of  material  and  the  making  of  summaries. 

5.  The   recitation  is   also    the   proper   place   for   fixing   the 
few  important  dates  which  pupils  need  to  know.    These  should 
be  thoroughly  memorized. 


II.  SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL 

Maps 

1.  The  maps  inserted  throughout  will  be  found  very  helpful. 

2.  The  use  of  the  double-size  desk  outline  maps  such  as  are 
published    at    trivial    cost    by    the    McKinley    Publishing   Co., 
Philadelphia,  is  strongly  recommended. 

3.  A  map  of  the  world  is  absolutely  necessary. 

4.  A   blackboard    outline   map   for   tracing   discoveries    and 
explorations.    A.  Flanagan  Co.,  Chicago,  publish  such  maps. 

Pictures 

1.   Perry  Picture  Co.,  Maiden,  Mass.,  have  sets  of   pictures 
excellent  for  all  periods  of  history.    These  cost  one  cent  each. 


298  INTRODUCTION    TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

2.  Encourage  children  to  bring  pictures  to  school,  illustrating 
points  in  the  lessons.  A  recognition  of  many  of  the  world's 
famous  men,  buildings,  works  of  art,  etc.,  should  be  one  of  the 
products  of  history  study. 

Books 

In  the  suggestions  for  teachers  on  each  chapter,  certain  books 
are  recommended.  These  are  books  that  should  be  in  the  library 
of  every  teacher  of  history. 

Many  of  the  children  will  come  from  homes  well  supplied 
with  good  books.  Encourage  them  to  read  from  them,  to  bring 
them  to  the  class,  and  to  make  oral  reports  on  parts  read. 

The  Community 

In  almost  every  community  there  will  be  one  individual  who 
has  visited  some  of  the  famous  historical  shrines.  Have  the 
class  invite  him  to  talk  to  them  about  such  places. 

III.  A  HISTORY  GAME 

Let  each  pupil  personify  some  character  with  whom  all 
members  of  the  class  are  familiar,  for  instance,  Christopher 
Columbus.  He  should  have  read  from  other  sources  so  that 
when  he  personifies  before  the  class  the  individual  chosen,  he 
will  introduce  as  much  new  material  as  possible.  He  will  not 
tell  the  things  commonly  known  about  Columbus.  The  other 
members  of  the  class  listen  for  the  purpose  of  identifying  him, 
but  no  pupil  must  announce  who  he  thinks  it  is.  He  must 
make  the  pupil  on  the  floor  disclose  his  identity,  by  asking  him 
some  question  such  as,  "Are  you  the  man  who  sailed  from  Palos 
in  1492  to  find  a  western  passage  to  the  Indies?"  To  which 
the  pupil  on  the  floor  who  is  personifying  Columbus  will  reply, 
"Yes,  I  am  Christopher  Columbus." 

If  a  question  be  asked  which  shows  that  the  one  asking  it 
does  not  know  the  individual  personified,  as  for  instance,  "Are 
you  the  man  who  singed  the  beard  of  the  King  of  Spain?" 
then  the  one  on  the  floor  must  say,  "No,  I  am  not  Sir  Francis 
Drake."  The  questions  may  also  be  such  as  will  bring  out 
further  information  about  the  individual  so  as  to  help  the  ques- 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   TEACHERS  299 

tioner  to  know  who  it  is.  As  for  instance,  "Did  you  live  in  the 
fourteenth  century?"  The  pupil  on  the  floor  should  answer 
only  by  "yes"  or  "no,"  without  saying  when  he  lived.  No  pupil 
should  be  allowed  to  ask  a  question  until  he  has  at  least  a  tenta- 
tive opinion  as  to  who  is  personified. 

The  same  game  may  be  played  for  historic  buildings  and 
places. 


The  following  recommendations  on  the  different  chapters  are 
not  intended  to  be  exhaustive,  but  are  such  as  may  be  carried 
out  by  any  teacher,  and  such  as  do  not  require  extensive  or 
expensive  equipment.  They  are  in  most  cases  intended  to  be 
merely  suggestive,  and  may  be  adapted  by  any  teacher  to  his 
particular  environment  and  equipment. 

CHAPTER   I 

1.  Maps.     The  use  of  a  desk  outline  map  by  the  pupil  to 
locate  each  of  the  nations  as  taken  up  in  the  text  will  be  found 
very  helpful.    On  this  map  he  can  print  the  name  of  the  nation, 
its  principal  products  and  industries.     He  may  also  locate  the 
important  rivers,  the  "Royal  Road,"  the  trade  routes  of  the 
Phoenicians,  etc.     Then  as  a  summing  up  of  the  chapter,  on  a 
line  drawn  from  the  site  of  each  nation  and  extending  toward  the 
west,   place  what  this   nation  has    contributed   to   the  world's 
civilization. 

The  teacher  may  use  a  larger  outline  map  to  guide  and 
direct  the  work  of  the  children. 

2.  Old  Testament  as  a  source-book.     Use  as  supplementary 
wherever  it  will  help,  as  for  instance: 

a.   Story  of  Joseph  and  his  brothers  —  richness  of  land  of 

Egypt. 

6.  Building  of  Temple  at  Jerusalem, 
c.  The  Ten  Commandments. 

3.  Pictures.    Perry  Picture  Co.,  of  Maiden,  Mass.,  make  excel- 
lent pictures.    Have  a  collection  of  these  and  ask  the  children  to 
look  out  for  pictures  bearing  on  the  text. 


300  INTRODUCTION   TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  II 

1.  Preparatory  to  understanding  Greek  civilization,  have  the 
children  use  their  geographies  to  work  out  the  islands  of  Greece, 
the  long  and  irregular  coast-line,  the  high  mountains,  and  se- 
questered valleys,  and  lead  them  to  see  the  effect  of  these  physical 
features  on  the  industries  and  character  of  the  people. 

2.  Locate  on  the  outline  map  used  with  Chapter  I:  Athens, 
Sparta,  Salamis,  Aegean  Sea,  Marathon,  Thermopylae,  etc. 

CHAPTER  III 

1.  If  possible  get  a  copy  of  "A  Reading  from  Homer"  by 
Alma-Tadema.    Let  the  children  imagine  themselves  the  auditors. 
The  scene  may  be  in  some  measure  made  real  by  the  teacher 
reading  from  Bryant's  Translation  of  the  Odyssey. 

2.  Books. 

a.  Hawthorne's  version  of  some  famous  old  Greek  stories  — 

Tanglewood  Tales;  Riverside  Literature  Series,  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

b.  Harding,  S.  B.  —  Greek  Gods,  Heroes  and  Men. 


CHAPTER  IV 

1.  The   Acropolis,   and    the    Parthenon    should    become    so 
familiar  that  pupils  will  always  recognize  them.    Pictures  of  Ionic, 
Doric,  and  Corinthian  columns  should  be  used  and  the  distinc- 
tive characteristics  of  each  pointed  out. 

2.  The  children  should  also  become  thoroughly  familiar  with 
a  few  of  the  Greek  masterpieces  of  sculpture,  as  the  Hermes  by 
Praxiteles,  the  Discobolus  by  Myron,  Zeus  by  Phidias,  etc.    Perry 
Picture  Co.  furnish  pictures  of  Greek  Art  and  Architecture. 

3.  TarbeU's  "  History  of  Greek  Art." 


CHAPTER  VI 

On  the  outline  map  used  with  Chapters  I  and  II,  have  the 
children  mark  the  location  of  Greek  colonies  and  trace  the  cam- 
paigns 'of  Alexander. 


TO  TBACtttiRS  301 


CHAPTER   VII 

1.  Macaulay's  "Lays  of  Ancient  Rome"  furnishes  splendid 
material  for  supplementing  this  chapter.     Read  some  of  these 
stirring  lays  to  the  children. 

2.  Have  children  trace  on  the  map  Hannibal's  route  and  the 
spread  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

Use  the  map  every  day  in  developing  the  lesson.  Be  sure 
that  the  children  know  what  is  meant  by  the  Roman  Empire. 

CHAPTER   IX 

1.  Read  from  Lamb's  Tales  the  story  of  Shakespeare's  "  Julius 
Caesar." 

2.  Get  a  copy  of  "Ben  Hur,"  by  Lew  Wallace,  and  read  to  the 
children  the  description  of  the  chariot  race. 

CHAPTER  x 

Have  children  bring  new  testaments  to  class  and  with  maps ' 
follow  Paul  on  one  of  his  great  missionary  journeys.  Estimate 
the  number  of  miles  he  traveled.  See  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
XV-XXXI.  Call  attention  to  hardships  he  had  to  endure,  to 
the  value  of  his  Roman  citizenship,  to  the  speech  to  the  men 
of  Athens,  Acts  XVII,  etc. 

CHAPTER   XI 

The  Nibelungenlied  —  sometimes  called  the  German  Iliad  — 
gives  a  clear  conception  of  German  ideals.  Read  from  some 
one  of  the  numerous  translations  the  adventures  of  Siegfried, 
the  hero. 

CHAPTER  XII 

Eva  March  Tappan's  "  European  Hero  Stories  "  and  Harding's 
"Story  of  the  Middle  Ages"  are  excellent  supplementary  books 
and  can  be  read  by  the  children.  These  may  be  used  with 
Chapter  XII  and  following  chapters. 


302  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Books.  Sidney  Lanier's  "The  Boy's  King  Arthur"  or  any 
other  of  the  several  good  King  Arthur  Stories;  Jennie  Hall's 
"Viking  Tales." 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Some  of  the  more  important  dates  in  English  history  should 
be  kept  before  the  pupils  from  now  on: 
a.  The  coming  of  the  Romans. 
6.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Invasion. 

c.  The  Danish  Invasion. 

d.  The  Norman  Conquest. 

CHAPTER  XV 

1.  Robinson's  "Readings  in  European  History,"  Vol.  I,  "How 
the  English  won  the  Magna  Charta." 

2.  Eva  March  Tappan's  "European  Hero  Stories,"  "Winning 
of  the  Magna  Charta." 

CHAPTER  XVI 

1.  Read  from  Harding's  "Story  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  chap- 
ters describing  the  life  in  castle  and  in  village. 

2.  Make  a  drawing  on  the  blackboard  showing  plan  of  castle 
and  the  surroundings. 

CHAPTER  XVII 

1.  See  Eva  March  Tappan's  "European  Hero  Stories,"  on 
the  Crusades. 

2.  From  the  Old  South  Publishing  Co.,  Boston,  you  may  get 
for  five  cents,  a  reprint  of  Marco  Polo's  description  of  Japan 
and  Java.    It  is  in  the  Old  South  Leaflets  series. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

1.  A  blackboard  outline  map  of  the  world,  on  which  may  be 
traced  the  voyages  and  explorations  of  the  next  chapters  is 
almost  indispensable. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHE&S  303 

2.  Suppose  you  put  the  problem  of  "  Finding  a  New  Trade 
Route  to  the  East,"  to  the  children  before  they  read  this 
chapter.  They  must  have  a  clear  conception  of  the  problem, 
of  the  equipment  at  hand  to  solve  it,  its  difficulties,  etc.  It  will 
be  necessary  for  you  to  read  this  chapter  first  so  that  you  may 
be  prepared  to  show  the  difficulties  as  they  suggest  different 
solutions.  Let  them  work  on  it  until  they  are  satisfied  with 
their  answer.  Then  let  them  read  this  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

1.  Washington   Irving's  "Columbus,"  Book  3,  describes   his 
first  voyage.     Extracts  from  this  read  to  the  children  will  help 
to  make  vivid  and  real  the  courage  required  to  make  a  success 
of  his  first  voyage. 

2.  Old  South  Leaflets  Nos.  29  and  31,  on  Columbus. 


CHAPTER   XX 

1.  Use  the  blackboard  outline  map  to  trace  the  routes  of 
these  explorers.     Different  colored  crayons  may  be  used  for  the 
different  nations. 

2.  Old   South   Leaflets   Nos.   37   and   115,    "  Voyages   of  the 
Cabots." 

CHAPTER   XXI 

1.  You  need  now  a  good  outline  map  of  North  America.    The 
children  should  be  supplied  with    desk-size  maps.     Let    them 
trace  the  explorations  of  the  Spanish  in  one  color  and  place  the 
date  and  name  on  the  line.     The  same  map  may  be  used  in 
succeeding  chapters,  using  different  colors  for  different  nations. 

2.  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  35,   "Cortez'  account  of  City  of 
Mexico";  No.  36,  "Death  of  De  Soto." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Continue  the  map  begun  in  preceding  chapters,  writing  name 
and  date  of  the  explorer  on  the  line  showing  his  route.  Old 
South  Leaflet  No.  116,  "Sir  Francis  Drake  on  Coast  of 
California." 


304  INTRODUCTION    TO   AMERICAN  HISTORY 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

Old  South  Leaflet  No.  89,  "Founding  of  St.  Augustine." 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

Let  the   children   consult   their   geographies   on  Holland,   its 
location,,  use  of  dikes,  occupation  of  people,  etc. 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  118,  " Gilbert's  Expedition";  No.  119, 
"  Raleigh's  Colony  at  Roanoke." 


INDEX 


Acropolis,  the,  44 

Adrianople,  battle  of,  105,  106 

Alaric,  109 

Alexander  the  Great,  59-66;  empire 

of,  64,  65 

Alexandrians,  64,  66 
Alfred,  King,  122-130 
Alva,  Duke  of,  268 
Amadas  and  Barlow,  288,  289 
America,  discovery  of,  198-204 
Americus  Vespucius,  222,  223 
Anglo-Saxons,  124 
Architecture,    Egyptian,    3,    5-7; 

Greek,  45-50 
Ariovistus,  83,  104 
Aristides,  51,  57 
Aristotle,  42,  43,  53,  57 
Armada,  Invincible,  275-281,  283, 

291 

Athena,  48 

Athenians,  21,  25,  38,  52,  53 
Athos,  Mount,  24 
Attila,  106-108,  162 
Augustus,  90,  96 
Aztecs,  234,  241 

Balboa,  224,  225,  233,  246 
Bayard,  Chevalier,  258-260 
"Beggars,"  268 
Black  death,  38 
Britons,  84-87,  109,  110 
Byron,  Lord,  27 


Cabot,  John,  220-223,  249,  282,  283 
Caesar,  79-89,  104,  109 
Cambyses,  15 
Cannae,  battle  of,  75,  76 
Canterbury,  113;  pilgrims  to,  161; 

Tales,  161 

Canute,  King,  129-131 
Carthage,  71-78 
Cartier,  229-232,  260 
Castles,  153-155 
Cathedrals,  116 
Chaldeans,  8-10 
Chalons,  battle  of,  107-108 
Charlemagne,  119-123,  128 
Chaucer,  161 
Chivalry,  154 
Christianity,  in  Roman  Empire,  96, 

97;  spread  of,  112-122 
Cincinnatus,  69,  70 
Circus  Maximus,  93 
Civilization,   "cradle  of,"    4,    17; 

"missionaries  of,"  12 
Coligny,  260,  281 
Coliseum,  92,  93 
Cologne,  Cathedral  of,  117 
Colonies,  English  attempts,   282- 

293 

Columbus,  Christopher,  1,  188-219 
Commons,  House  of,  146 
Constantine,  99 

Constantinople,  165,  171,  177-179 
Coronado,  246,  247 


306 


INDEX 


Cortez,  234-240,  246 
Crusades,  141,  161-172 
Cyclops,  32,  33 
Cyrus,  15 

Da  Gama,  217,  225,  242 

Danes,  124-127,  131 

Darius,  15,  24,  63 

"  Dark  Ages/'  112 

De  Gourgues,  264,  265 

Delphi,  Oracle  of,  26 

Demosthenes,  39,  40,  57 

De  Soto,  241-243,  246 

Diaz,  186,  187,  217 

Diogenes,  56,  57 

Dionysus,  theater  of,  36, 

Discovery,  beginnings  of,  176-187 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  254,  256,  272- 

280,  284 
Dutch,  266-270 

Education,  in  Middle  Ages,  117-119 

Edward  the  Confessor,  134-136 

Egypt,  4,  5 

Egyptians,  4^9,  26 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  248-254,  272, 
273,  281 

England,  rival  of  Spain,  246-257, 
270-281;  efforts  to  found  col- 
onies, 282-293 

English  life,  149-157 

Ethelbert,  115 

Explorers,  158-170 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  195,  198, 

210,  218 
Feudalism,  153 
Florida,  261-265 
Fort  Caroline,  262,  265 


Forum,  Roman,  91,  92 
France,  rival  of  Spain,  257-265 
French  explorers,  229-232 
Frobisher,  Sir  Martin,  275,  284 

Gaul,  79-84 

Genoa,  174,  190,  195 

Germans,  83;  successors  of  Ro- 
mans, 102-111 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  284-287 

Gilds,  151,  152 

Gladiators,  93 

Good  Hope,  Cape,  186,  187 

"GordianKnot,"  62 

Greece,  19-30,  76 

Greeks,  18-30;  as  writers,  30-43; 
as  builders  and  artists,  44-50; 
as  athletes,  48,  49;  life  and 
character,  50-57;  civilization, 
58;  colonies,  58,  59,  100,  111 

Gregory  the  Great,  114 

Grenada,  196,  198 

Grenville,   Sir   Richard,    289,    290 

Gunpowder,  166 

"  Hanging  Gardens,"  9,  10 
Hannibal,  72-77 
Harold,  King,  135,  136 
Hawkins,  Sir  John,  253,  256,  275, 

284 

Hebrews,  13,  14 
Helen  of  Troy,  30 
Hellespont,  12,  24 
Hengist  and  Horsa,  110,  113,  115, 

124 

Henry,  Patrick,  40 
Henry   the    Navigator,    183-186, 

190 

Henry  II,  140,  150,  159 
Henry  VII,  of  England,  249 


INDEX 


307 


Henry  III,  146,  147 
Hermann,  105 
HoUand,  266-270 
Holy  Land,  162-170 
Homer,  31-35,  51 
Huguenots,  260-262 
Huns,  106-108,  162 

Iliad,  32-35 

Indians,  205,  206,  230 

Jamestown,  282,  292 
Jerusalem,  166,  169 
John,  King,  143-146 
Jutes,  110,  113,  115,  124,  131 

Karnak,  Temple  of,  7 
Knights,  156,  157 

Lane,  Ralph,  289 
Lebanon  Mountains,  11 
Leonidas,  25 
"Lost  Colony,"  290-293 
Luther,  Martin,  267 

MageUan,  225-228,  254 
Magna  Charta,  144,  146 
Mandeville,  Sir  John,  175 
Marathon,  battle  of,  22,  23 
Marco  Polo,  172-176 
Mariner's  Compass,  11 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  273,  274 
Mediterranean  Sea,  11 
Menelaus,  30 
Menendez,  262-265 
Mexico,  conquest  of,  234-241 
Middle  Ages,  149-157 


Monasteries,  117 
Montezuma,  235,  236,  240 
Montreal,  230 
Moors,  196,  198 

Nebuchadnezzar,  9 
Nero,  97,  98 
"  New  World,"  1,2 
Nile  River,  4,  8 
Norman  Conquest,  135 
Normans,  138-142 
Northmen,  131-133,  176 

Odoacer,  110,  119 
Odyssey,  32-35 
"  Old  World,"  1,2 
Otis,  James,  40 
Oxford,  113,  150 

Palestine,  14 

Panama,  224 

Pantheon,  the,  92 

Parliament,  148 

Parthenon,  the,  45,  46,  48 

Paul,  the  Apostle,  96 

Peloponnesian  War,  38 

Pentelicus,  45 

Pericles,  35,  53-55,  90 

Persian  Wars,  21-28,  37,  51,  62 

Persians,  12,  15-17,  22-26 

Peter  the  Hermit,  163-165 

Phidias,  46-48,  57 

Philip  the  Second,  of  Spain,  267- 

274 

Philip  of  Macedon,  40,  41 
Philippines,  226 
Phoenicians,  11,  12,  19,  26 
Picts,  109 


Miltiades,  22 

Mississippi  River,  discovery  of,  241      Pilgrims,  158-170 

Moeris,  lake,  5  Plataea,  28,  52 


308  INDEX 

Plato,  53  Spaniards,  187,  234-245,  246,  253, 

Polyphemus,  32,  33  260,  274-281 

Ponce  de  Leon,  246  Spanish  Missions,  244 

Pope's  Line,  the,  210,  211,  247,      Sparta,  see  Spartans 

248,  260,  283  Spartans,  21,  25,  26,  38 

Port  Royal,  261,  262  Susa,  16 
Portuguese,  181-186,  216,  217,  219 

Pyramids,  5,  6  Thermopylae,  battle  of,  24,  25 

Thucydides,  38 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  250-252,  284-     Toscanelli,  192,  193,  197,  219 

290  Tournament,  the,  155 

Rameses,  1,  2  Troy,  30,  32 

Revival  of  learning,  179,  180  Turks,  162-170 

Ribot,  261,  262  Tyrians,  60-64 

Richard    the    Lion-hearted,  140- 

142,   167  Ulysses,  32 

Roanoke  Colony,  289-291  Universities,  150 
Romans,  67-87 

Rubicon,  88  Venice,  172-175 

Runnymede,  113  Vercingetorix,  80,  82 

Verrazzano,  229 

St.  Augustine,  113,  114-117,  262,      Vikings,  131,  132 

264  Village,  the,  152 

St.  Lawrence  River,  229  Virginia,  282,  293 

St.  Thomas   of    Canterbury,  159, 

160  Waldseemuller,  Martin,  1,  223 

Salamis,  battle  of,  26-28,  52  Walter  the  Penniless,  165 

Sardis,  16  Wedmore,  battle  of,  126 

Scots,  109  White,  John,  290, 292 

"Sea  of  Darkness,"  181,  182  William  of  Orange,  268-270 

Senlac,  battle  of,  137  William  the  Conqueror,  135-139 

"Seven  Cities,"  246  William  II,  of  England,  139,  140 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  272,  273  Witan,  131 
Simon  de  Montfort,  147,  148 

Socrates,  52  Xerxes,  24,  25,  26,  28 
Solomon's  Temple,  12,  13 

Solon,  56,  57  Zeus,  49 

Sophocles,  35  Zutphen,  battle  of,  272 


PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


Elementary  American  History  and  Government 


For  Seventh  and  Eighth  Years 

By  JAMES  ALBERT  WOODBURN,  Professor  of  American  History  and 
Politics  in  Indiana  University,  and  THOMAS  FRANCIS  MORAN,  Professor 
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While  the  facts  of  history  remain  unchanged,  the  angle  of 
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CITIZENSHIP 

Instruction  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  American 
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SOCIAL,    INDUSTRIAL,    AND    LITERARY '  HISTORY 

Particular  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  history  of  our 
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Questions  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  emphasize  im- 
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LONGMANS,  GREEN  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 

FOURTH  AVENTJE  AND  SOra  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


FEATUKES  OF 
THE  HOKACE  MANN  READERS 

The  Horace  Mann  Readers  are  highly  organized  —  words 
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Daily  Lesson  Plans,  the  teacher's  manual  for  the  first  and 
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GATE  TO  ENGLISH 

By  WILL   D.    HOWE 

PROFESSOR   OF   ENGLISH,    INDIANA   UNIVERSITY 

ZELLA   O'HAIR 

INSTRUCTOR    IN    ENGLISH,    SHORTRIDGE   HIGH    SCHOOL, 

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Every  lesson  is  related  to  the  life  of  the  child. 

Each  important  subject  is  emphasized  in  treatment  by  being 
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ALEXANDER'S  NEW  SPELLING  BOOK 

BY  GEORGIA  ALEXANDER 

Supervising  Principal  of  Public  Schools,  Indianapolis 

The  former  edition,  which  was  used  with  unvarying  success,  has  been 
entirely  rebuilt  to  meet  the  most  modern  and  approved  ideas  of  vocabulary 
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GRADES  3,  4:     .     .    28  cents      GRADES  5,  6: 30  cents 

GRADES  3,  4,  and  5:  34  cents      GRADES  7,  8,  and  Advanced:    40  cents 
GRADES  6,  7,  and  8:  36  cents      GRADES  3-8 44  cents 

This  speller  teaches  spelling  through  interest.  There  is  constant  variety 
in  the  presentation  of  new  words  and  in  drill,  and  to  further  insure  inter- 
est, the  lessons  have  been  purposely  made  short  and  the  words  and  lessons 
very  carefully  graded.  The  deadening  effect  of  approaching  the  spelling 
lesson  each  day  in  the  same  way  is  avoided  by  sometimes  introducing  the 
words  to  be  learned  in  connection  with  the  quotations  from  standard 
authors  and  model  letters  from  celebrated  men  and  women;  sometimes 
in  connection  with  elliptical  exercises  from  classic  fables  and  proverbs  and 
not  infrequently  through  the  study  of  a  picture. 

VOCABULARY  AND  ARRANGEMENT 

The  common  words  of  everyday  usage  alone  are  taught.  These  are 
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therefore  remembered  as  an  individual.  They  are  not  arranged  in  the 
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review  lists,  or  after  they  have  been  learned  separately.  Column  words 
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meaning  or  relation  which  readily  lends  itself  to  the  formation  of  easy 
original  sentences. 

Daily  incentive  is  also  given  the  child  to  increase  his  own  vocabulary 
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CONTENT  BEFORE  FORM 

There  is  a  thought  basis  for  each  lesson,  so  that  the  meaning  of  a  word 
is  developed  before  the  child  is  required  to  learn  the  letters.  After  inter- 
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the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  hand.  The  image  formed  is  thus  so  strong  that 
it  becomes  individual,  even  personal.  As  a  final  test,  the  child  is  required 
to  use  his  spelling  words  in  original  work. 

MEASURING  SCALE  IN  SPELLING 

In  the  edition  containing  Grades  3-8  is  a  Measuring  Scale  for  Ability  in 
Spelling  by  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayres  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation.  This 
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among  the  children  of  different  grades.  The  teacher  can  thus  locate  a  child's 
spelling  ability  in  terms  of  grades. 

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